Capri Sun!

Thursday evening we packed and headed for the Santa Maria Novella Train Station to catch our bus to Sorrento. On the way down we got to see three movies: The Devil Wears Prada, Man on Fire and 12 Monkeys. It was good to see Man on Fire all the way through for the first time, I hadn't realized that I hadn't seen the first hour of the movie!

We arrived in Sorrento 2 hours later than expected because the bus got lost in the twisty-turny roads of Sorrento. I don't blame him--it was crazy trying to get around--but I lost a lot of sleep since I didn't sleep on the bus and didn't realize that we were pulling in at 3:30 am!




We stayed in what were described as "cute bungalows" which means really tiny trailers on a campsite. At first it was off-putting, but it was really peaceful being perched so far away from the heart of the city.

It was also in close (walking) proximity to pick up site for boats, we only had to descend a windy trail down the side of the cliff we were perched on, but the view at the bottom was gorgeous.




The water was the most remarkable because it was the most amazing shade of blue!



We took a boat out to the island of Capri. It was a long and bumpy journey, but so much fun! I sat toward the front of the boat. When we got closer we were given a little boat tour of the island, including of its natural wonders.




When we arrived we took a quick photo op at Marina Piccola and then climbed the craziest amount of stairs ever up to Capri town.


The amount of stairs was sooo crazy that I fell behind the others and lost my group. At first it seemed an easy task to meet up with them as there were no viable turns off of the main path. But then I arrived at a fork in the path and got a little worried.

I chose one of the paths and asked people as I walked by if they had seen a large group of girls go by. When they said yes I felt confident I was on the right path--until I arrived on the main road of Capri town and had no idea where to go. I asked a few people if they had seen my group to no avail... and that was when I panicked. I didn't want to miss any of the group activities or be lost on the island with no idea where to go. So I bawled my eyes out and found an officer directing traffic. He offered to help my find my group.

We drove around a bit and I spotted one of the girls from my tour group. She had fallen behind because she had an asthma attack on the way up. Since she had a workable cell phone she was able to contact the group and know how to catch up with them. I was sooo relieved!

I waited in the square until people I knew showed up. It was not a bad wait, I picked up a melon-flavored granita (slushie) and enjoyed the view over Capri.

We met up again and took a bus up to Anacapri, a small town at the base of Capri's largest peak. Our first stop was at the most famous site for custom-made Capri sandals. I had a pair created by Salvatore Pandolfi... a sweet old man that we really put to work when we arrived! This is him working on my sandals.



After the sandal excursion, my bungalow group decided to hit the chairlift to ascend the peak of Anacapri. It was a little scary getting on, but the ride was really peaceful and pleasant. It took awhile to reach the top!




When we got to the top we wandered around the building at the peak finding the best angles for taking photos. We were literally in the clouds and looking through them at some points.





When we finished up top we headed back down on the chairlift to find something to eat for lunch!



Lunch was a delicious (but expensive) pizza from the cheapest place we could find... it served a lot of touristy food. Note the lemon in my Coca-cola. Capri is well known for its growing of citrus fruits and its lemon products, especially limoncello. I thought it was some kind of dessert, but its actually a drink similar (at least in alcohol content to moonshine--and it burns!

Afterwards we browsed the shops and picked up our sandals and made the long trip back down to Marina Piccola--just in time to catch our boat back to Sorrento.

Before we headed back we received a boat tour of the other side of the island, which also showed us the location of the "Blue Grotto." As part of our trip we were supposed to make a stop there, but mother nature impeded and the swell was too large to be able to enter. You take a small boat inside and it is said that the air inside appears blue because of the refraction of light under the cave. Unfortunately, we were unable to witness this natural wonder--all the more reason to return to Capri someday!






For dinner that night me and my bungalow mates opted to stay close to the campsite and eat at the on site restaurant. It was decent food--but at much better prices than anywhere else in Sorrento! (the seafood plate belongs to a bunkmate, I had the calzone!)


Oh and I saw Mr. Sorne on my pizza box!