Italy Part 6: Isle di Capri

I sit here on the couch tonight eating ice cream, imagining that it is chocolate gelatto. It's not and I'm not fooled. But since it has been a week or so since I blogged last and I HAVE NOT even come close to sharing all of my experiences from the land of my ancestors, I figured I'd return to Italia and share what happened on our final day down in the south of the country.

In this blog we find ourselves transported back to Sorrento, the colorful resort town on the west coast of Italy about 2/3 of the way down the length of the "boot" and on the coast of Tyrrhenian Sea. It is warm and all of us are dressed in sundresses, shorts and tees, and flip-flops. Some of my friends already have had too much sun, the red hue a symbol of a fun trip so far. I had managed to stay bronze up until this point and am hoping to stay that way. I don't like sunburns. But knowing that today was all about being in the sun, I knew it was most likely to be a lost cause. But soooo much fun!

We walked about 25 minutes from our hotel in Sorrento, through the maze of linear streets and back alleys that make Sorrento so characteristically fun. Finally we came to the overlook near the beach and descended the 3 long flights of stone stairways down to the sea. From this point we headed to our ship which would cross the sometimes rough waters to the Isle of Capri (pronounced KAH pri). My parents had done this journey a few years ago and had a rough 30 minute trip to the island. We had nothing of the kind. It was smooth sailing and gorgeous. And warm.

If you are wealthy and want to experience the high life in southern Italy, Capri is the place to go. It's 2 main towns are situated on the TOP of the island which is an oval shaped piece of land with 2 mini mountains at the heart of its center. Beaches and ports abound along the shoreline and winding, narrow roads lead the mile or so uphill to the towns of Capri and AnaCapri. People come to Sorrento to party and shop (if you stay on the main drag) and just be free. People come to Capri to BE SEEN shopping.

If you stay near the coast, which means laying in the sun for hours on end, you won't be disappointed. There are cute, independent shops and restaurants near all the beaches which are either public or private (you pay to be on that stretch of beach). There are 2 alternatives to living the life in Capri - the first is taking a boatride around the island and if you are lucky, swim in some of the grottos (grotti?), or caves, which glow different colors depending on the sunlight and type of rock that outline the floor of the grotto. The other is to climb the stairs to the top of one of the towns (25 min or so straight up climbing - all stairs!) unless you have cash in which case you hire a taxi and get a ride to the top.

Our day began with the island boat tour. Our closeknit group of 50 took 2 boats around the island. We sailed through rocks that formed arches over the turquoise blue waters. We swam in a few of the grottos (Not the famous blue grotto which you have to pay extra for and usually has an hour+ wait. It is the most brilliant of the grottos and will just be something I save for another visit, right?) We saw lighthouses perched perilously on rocks high above the water and strange statues shaped like people sunbathing on the rocks above.















[Above the arched rocks (left) and swimming in the green grotto (right). We swam from this point through the cave and out the other side.]

One note about the grotto swim. We had been warned there were jellyfish in the waters. Someone yelled they felt one and we all began swimming frantically for the other side of the grotto where the boat was picking us up. It was not funny at the tip and sort of rushed the experience (the water was cold) but it sure was neat to swim with a group in glowing green water!

During another brief stop on our boat tour around Capri we did some rock jumping. Nothing too crazy, the rocks were not high, but having a fear of falling (aka fear of heights) makes the challenge difficult. I really wanted to do it. When I saw Muriel was the first one to do it, I summoned my courage and treaded water in line to get up on the rocks. It took a few seconds but I mentally pushed myself off the edge and LEAP! into the water. I could do it again should I be given the opportunity!
[The rock we jumped off of is in the background on the left in this photo]



After rock jumping and the boat tour we had lunch at a lovely restaurant near the beach just below Capri. I had amazing spinach ravioli smothered in a tomato sauce. It was divine! Just the thing to prep me for a mile long stair climb up to Capri!

From lunch, our group split into several and so it was that 10 of us found our way to the stairs that led to the "mountaintop" town of Capri. We climbed for several minutes up a winding, stone stairway that could fit about 4 people across. The signs pointing the way to "Centro" were done in mosaic tiles which fit the atmosphere of the island perfectly. Artistic but natural. Every 7 minutes or so our stairway would open up to the road that wound its way up the island. Along the stairway were doorways and gates that led to homes of inhabitants of this spectacular place. I can't imagine living here or growing up here but it sure would be special, although much too isolated for my taste.

About 1/2 way up the hike, we saw a gentleman who was obviously taking a break or waiting for someone. He was the reddest man I have ever seen, probably in his 40's. His legs, arms, neck and face were all the color of a tomato. This guy was going to be in pain by tomorrow if he wasn't already. We had a good laugh and paused for the last of the line of our little group to catch up and get a glimpse. We asked a couple climbing back down how much further. They said 10-15 minutes more. What a workout!

Eventually we reached our destination and the top of Capri was worth it. The water below was the most amazing shade of blue. You could even see people swimming down below, the water so clear that you could see their legs underneath the surface. The town square that we "surfaced" at was bedecked in flowers of every shade. The buildings were all shades of peach and yellow and tan which only served to enhance the multitude of flowers. People were milling about everywhere and just to the right was the main road in Capri and the street lined with every high-end European brand you could think of. We window shopped. Some also bought postcards and gelatto or lemonade slushies.

We did not have much time to spend up top because we had a deadline to get back down to the port for our boat back to Sorrento. All in all, we spent probably 30 minutes up in Capri. Little did we know our adventure was to continue! Instead of taking the same stairs down we had used to get up to Capri, someone said there was a shorter way down if we just walked down the road a bit. So we did, only to find that there were no stairs. Thus it was that our band of 10 walked the narrow 2-way road which barely fit more than 1 car at a time let alone 2 cars and a line of walkers hoping in vain to see stairs that would take us down the mountain. The road wound ever further from the port which had been just below the town square and some of us were not only worried about being hit by a car but missing the boat because we were getting off course. One of the calmer, logical souls amongst our crew decided that all roads lead to the port and eventually we'd get there no matter how meandering the road was. I decided to just enjoy the view and the challenge of walking down a steep road in flip flops with cars whizzing by.

We eventually passed a set of stairs about 1/2 way down but weren't sure where they led to and decided to stay on the road which had curved back towards the port. The way down took longer than the hike up but with laughter we made it with time to spare. At the port we were greeted by an old Italian guy in bright orange who seemed to be both a mime and amazingly strong. He mimed a few things and then did about 25 pushups! After putting on a show for all of us waiting for the boat, he bowed and then let his tour group away from port towards the beach. We couldn't believe this guy wasn't just a fisherman having fun but actually a guide!

Our visit to Capri had been relaxing and a great workout at the same time. Every place in Italy has a unique quality to them and are worth several days' visit. I will definitely head back to Capri some day, even though my heart tends to call me towards Florence (the subject of my next Italy blog and stop on our tour), Rome and Modena. I want to climb the stairs again, perhaps do more than window shop and even take the tram up AnaCapri which is said to have a view that is even more spectacular than the one from Capri. Nothing will match the laughter and personalities of the group I was with on this visit. That's what makes vacation so much fun. Every trip is a special moment captured for all time with a special group of people or individual.