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A visit to Naples (Capri), Italy
We got to Naples early on June 23. Naples was our final port of call, and it is another large, interesting, historic Italian city. Here, we had hard choices to make-Pompeii, the city of Naples itself, Sorrento, or Capri. Having been to Pompeii when we lived in Italy, and having seen so many ruins already, we chose Capri, and the vistas were breathtaking. We took a hydrofoil boat, a high speed "water bus" of sorts, which carried about 200 tourists and Italian workers commuting to the island. Once there, our guide put us onto mini buses, which are about the largest vehicle that can navigate the very narrow, twisty streets: sheer cliffs rise on one side, and fall straight down on the other. In places, only 1 vehicle could pass, and the hairpin turns were so tight we had to use round-abouts to navigate some of the turns on the parallel roads. (Parallel, but on different levels.) The original roadbed dates from Roman times. Our first stop was Altecapri, one of the mountain towns. There, we rode a chairlift to the highest point of the island. I'm sure the view would have been spectacular, but a cloud settled atop the mountain and everything below us was in a dense fog. However, it did give is to chance to explore the vegetation and things near us, which we probably would have otherwise overlooked. We passed over houses, yards, and gardens. I have no idea how the people got to them. The mountain was very steep! They'd need to be mountain goats. Down the chairlift, we ate at an outdoor ristorante, and then explored Capri. It is VERY trendy, with stores devoted to Prada, Armani, Versace, and the like. Smaller shops were getting more tourist business, however, and I bought a small Capri bell which has a legend, and is a symbol of the island. We took a funicular (cable car) down the mountain to the port, took more pictures, and then a return ride to Naples on another hydrofoil "water bus." The last night on the ship, a formal dinner, was bittersweet. After 12 evenings together, we'd grown quite fond of our tablemates. In fact, we'd formed our own competitive trivia team (very popular on this ship) known by our table number, 113. The waiters all sang a farewell song, and the final show in the theater was extra special. What a fabulous cruise! |
