After boiling to death in our hotel rooms recently last
night we froze. Bizarrely there were no blankets or doonas on the beds and the
room had got quite cool. In desperation I went searching in the middle of the
night and discovered a couple of old scratchy blankets in a cupboard and the
day was saved – warmth again!
We headed off quite early at 7.30am to catch the 8.30am
ferry from Sorrento to the Isle of Capris. After an uneventful crossing on the
ferry we had traversed the Bay of Naples to what is one of my all-time
favourite places in the world – the Isle of Capris. The island is separated
into 3 areas – the Grand Marina (or port), the village of Capris, and the
village of Ana capris (Ana means higher). From the port we hopped on some mini
buses and feared for our lives as the drivers climbed the narrowest roads you
have ever seen in true Italian fashion – fast and manically! The views were
spectacular if you could ignore the near misses and breathtaking scrapes with
other vehicles, barriers and rock walls!
We walked around Capris where we marvelled at the opulent
resort and high fashion stores and also viewed some fantastic gardens and
awesome lookout spots – great for photos. It really is a very special place for
scenery.
We were then back on the mini-buses and it was up to
Anacapris. We were then scheduled to go on a chair lift up to the very top of
the island…and I couldn’t wait. Carly was umming and arring – undecided as to
whether the chair lift would freak her out and had pretty much decided she
would give it a go…until she saw it. They were single chairs and she point
blank refused to proceed. No problem though – she just went and had a cup of
tea while I went up. I’d have to say it was a bit scary so I think she did the
right thing…though it was a great view at the top.
We then went to a great restaurant for lunch – I had
fabulous ravioli and Carly had spaghetti, with a drink, bread and dessert all
included – it was really yummy and the service was great too. Another walk to a
great viewing point and then we had some free time to shop for souvenirs and
keep looking around. After another hair raising ride down the side of the
mountain we found ourselves at the port where we had a bit more free time and
then it was back on the ferry at 3.15pm for the 30 minute trip back to
Sorrento. For a moment I thought we may suffer the same fate as the SS Minnow
as we battled through a very big swell but sure enough we arrived safe and
sound at the appointed time.
Upon reaching the hotel CJ and I grabbed our dirty washing
(that we had prepared earlier) and high tailed it through the small village to
the Laundromat we had heard of in search of clean clothes. We assumed others in
our group would think similarly and planned to be the first there to claim an
empty machine. Let’s face it, I was down to my last pair of undies and would
have crash tackled anyone who got in my way! We had a map but still needed to
ask a couple of locals to confirm we were heading in the right direction –
these narrow, winding cobble stoned streets can be quite confusing. We were
rewarded, however, when we arrived a scant 10 minutes before the onslaught of
other members of our group and were able to assist them, hailed as the experts
of the laundry – seasoned laundry attendants.
A 15 minute walk through the now dark streets found us back
at the hotel where we madly grabbed some internet time. Strangely this hotel
only has Wi-Fi between 7.30am and 9pm and only in the bar in the lobby so it
was funny to see half our group sitting around in a very anti-social fashion on
a range of gadgets from i-phones to laptops. We then had dinner at 7pm and were
back in the bar finishing uploads etc before heading off to bed for a rare
earlyish night – in bed at 10.30pm. Pompeii tomorrow – can’t wait!
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