Day 37 June 28, 2023
Today we had an excursion to the island of Capri. We were transported by van down to the marina and then boarded our boat for the 30-minute ride. The water here is beautiful and so clear! After arriving, we were given 5 hours to walk around and check things out and had to be back at the port at 2 p.m. for a tour around Capri.
There were a couple of things John found to do so we walked up from the port to the center of town, via lots of steps!!! Capri is a beautiful town, and they keep it very clean. I’m sure it has a lot to do with the tourists as well as the rich and famous that hang out there. We walked down “can’t afford anything here” street (lol!) and then found a small garden (Garden of Augustus) that we went in to. Got some great shots from the garden and then headed down Via Krupp, which is an engineering miracle that connects the Gardens of Augustus with Marina Piccola, through a zigzag that overhangs the ridge and has spectacular views.
Once we reached the Marina Piccola, we decided to take a convertible taxi to Anacapri, which is a commune of Capri and located higher on the island than Capri. Just the drive up was entertaining as again, you have the winding, twisting roads with lots of traffic and trucks/buses that are too big for the streets. After we arrived, we saw a little café and people outside with these massive lemons with drinks in them. We checked the menu out, grabbed a seat and ordered a lemon spritz and some risotto with shrimp. The drink was very refreshing, and the risotto had a great flavor due to the shrimp.
After lunch we looked in a couple shops, I bought a cover up and we started to head back down to the port. We took the Phoenician steps (921!) down to get back to Marina Grande. Up until 1874, these steps were the only link to Anacapri, which is at the top of the mountain. One hundred and fifty years ago, Anacapri had no wells, so the women had to go down and come back up with fresh water every day. Glad I wasn’t alive back then. John would have loved it, lol!
We got back down to the marina with about 45 minutes to spare so sat by the water and had an Aperol spritz and people watched. Our boat arrived back on time, we boarded and then had a boat tour around the island of Capri. It’s just so beautiful and yet, wild, as there is a lot of the island that is uninhabitable. We pulled up near the Blue Grotto, which is a sea cave where when the sun shines through it, it creates a blue reflection that illuminates the cavern. Our boat was too big to go in, but we did see others go in. I would have loved that! Other parts of the island that were pointed out were the three rocks, known as the Faraglione, that juts off the island’s coast. We boated through the middle one, which has an arch and is supposed to be good luck to kiss your significant other as you go through it.
We arrived back at the port, caught our ride back to town and had him drop us off at the Conan (grocery store) to buy green beans for our last dinner in Sorrento. We cooked chicken breasts, green beans and had left over risotto. We are packing up and will be ready to head to the train station in the morning for our trip back to Rome. There we will stay overnight and catch the 10:30 a.m. flight back to the states.
Miles walked – 5.94 Ciao!
