Exploring Capri and Anacapri

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  Capri, Italy
Saturday, June 23, 2007

Bonjourno!

We are feeling so much better today and were ready to venture out of the sick ward.

We rode the hydrofoil from Sorrento to the island of Capri, a short 25 minute journey. We had read such great things about Capri as well as stories from fellow travelers.

We arrived around 9am as we were told to get there early and leave early before the big crowds take over Capri. We ate a quick omelette breakfast and after paying our 38 Euro breakfast, we knew were were on an expensive outing.

We found the funicular as we had heard that it would take you way on top of Capri with breathtaking viewpoints and then could hop a bus to Anacapri (a very small town on the other side of Capri), for more spectacular views

Capri from Marina Grande harbor

!

The funicular ride was a short ride and then we found the small bus to take us further up the mountain. The switchbacks wound up the 1000 ft cliffs (Sammy and Roger- we know you would NOT have enjoyed this cramped bus ride, looking STRAIGHT down the cliffs, with the bus scraping the rock walls!). The tiny bus dumped us in Anacapri where we did some window shopping but were told not to buy anything in Capri or Anacapri as it was outrageously expensive. We even heard the to guides telling all their customers to NOT buy anything and that the cheapest thing in town was the free water coming out of the spout in the center of town!

We wandered around the tight streets watching for speeding scooters and after several moments were dripping wet from the extremely high humidity, stopped for fresh fruit and water and headed back to catch the bus back to Capri - we did not see what everyone was so excited about.

Some of the excitement might have been dulled by the smoggy air in the bay caused by the garbage men on strike in Napoli. We found out that the garbage was being dumped in the canals and burned due to the strike! We saw lots of smoke plumes on the way to Capri and the resulting haze answered our questions as to what that was from

Capri harbor

! The heavy haze made the humidity worse.

We were told the return bus to Capri came every 10-15 min. Relieved by this we saw the first bus come and it was PACKED. We waited in line for the next. The 2nd bus was packed and the 4 people in front of us crammed themselves into a few small slots and the doors shut. By this time it was SMOLDERING hot and sticky and we were both ready to grab a taxi to get ourselves down the mountain. We decided to wait for ONE more bus and after 45 minutes it arrived with room for us - we were ready to wilt!

Back in Capri we walked around the Marina Grande where we saw a few more yachts, but nothing like we had seen in Antibes or Monaco. These were only 100-150 footers (dwarfs!).

The next hydrofoil was 45 minutes away and we waited in the shade to catch it and enjoyed the sea breeze on the short journey back to Sorrento. As we walked off the boat we saw all the people waiting to get on for their journey to Capri and could only wish them well as they were going into an oven! It had gotten progressively hotter by the time we returned at 2pm and we only had visions of cooling ourselves off in the ocean

Capri Marina Grande

!

We quickly got ourselves into our swim gear and headed for the small fishing village below our hotel, and claimed our chaise lounges on the dock, steps away from the water and a fresh shower, and LUNCH!

We spent the rest of the afternoon sun bathing and relaxing with the other Italian families who seem to gather on Saturday's with their huge families!

After a nap and shower we went to what seems to be our favorite restaurant which we had visited before and had a wonderful Italian meal: Laurie had caprese salad with the freshest mozarella cheese you can ever imagine and Ryan had a special ham with fresh thick slices of parmasean cheese, and we both had the risotto of the day. We were so stuffed there was no room for dessert!

We sat for a long time and chatted with three men from New Jersey who were traveling for a few days in Sorrento and off to Rome. They were lots of fun and shared great tips for our upcoming travel to Greece.

Tomorrow there are limited bus schedules so plan to stick close to Sorrento and the beach as the weather is predicted to be another scorcher.

Today's walk: 5 miles 
Total for the journey (193 miles, 35 days) 

Love,
Ryan and Laurie

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Marina Grande - Sorrento, Italy	Marina Grande harbor	Sorrento from the ferry to Capri	Sorrento, Italy
View of Capri from Anacapri	View of Capri from Anacapri from 1500 feet up

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