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| Welcome to Capri |
After the hurly burly of Naples, Capri is a nice respite.
Especially if you go in November. Capri is all flowery, lush and mellow. Even the animals seem sedated. Dogs lie down,
cats meander. They’ve seen it all. We are not the first to discover Capri’s
beauty. In 31 BC Emperor Augustus offered to trade the island of Ischia to the
Neopolitans in order to get Capri to himself. I haven’t been to Ischia, but boy
did he get a bargain.
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| Crazy colorful |
If Naples was the place for pickpockets, Capri is the place
for jewel thieves. In a space of two
miles by four miles, you are thrust into the greatest density of high-end
shopping you could imagine. Prada, Giorgio Armani, Gucci, parades of
jewelry stores and sweet boutiques.
There were a few grandes dames in the piazzetta wearing their jewels,
but I imagine in the summer the bling is blinding. In Capri all that glitters
is gold.
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| Take a trip around the island |
When you arrive at the Capri port, follow suit of the person
in the ticket line and just ask for a ticket “up.” Get on the funicolare and go up to Capri Town. Here we have a sweet town square, or more
poetically, a piazzetta, with a Baroque
church tower and a bell that rings every 15 minutes.
We were there November 3 and 4 and the majority of hotels
had closed November 1st. This off-season timing allowed us to get
the fabulous Hotel Floridiana for only 90 Euros a night. Floridiana was all
brightness and sparkle and dazzling whites and blues. Our balcony looked out
over the sea, the sea, the beautiful sea. The chef was a one uomo wonder. He prepared breakfast and
he was there to take your dinner orders, made fresh to spec. He set the tables
and washed the dishes and I think he was the bartender too.
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| Capri (goats), capretti, chevres, capricious, Capricorn |
In Capri, you can easily earn a skyscraper badge on your
Fitbit. That means you’ve climbed 100 flights of stairs. Once up in Capri town
you can continue to go up—to Villa Jovis, Emperor Tiberius’ crib. And you’ll
spend at least 45 minutes climbing the scenic path. Your 2 euros are well spent
wandering around the playground of the Roman Empire. The place is crawling with
the eponymous wild goats (Capre is Italian for goats. As Darr said, it would be
like naming Martha’s Vineyard “whales.”) These Roman emperors really knew how
to get away. But it wasn’t all party
down. They chose the spot because strategically
they could see enemies coming from any direction…in the world. And Tiberius was an early adopter of organic
recycling. He was known to throw his lovers down the enormous cliff..."after the loving was finished. Divorce Italian Style,” as a tour guide explained.
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| Among the ruins--Emperor Tiberius' Villa Jovis |
Push “down” on the funicolare
and you will be back in the port where you can purchase a ticket (14 Euro) for
a boat trip around the island with a stop at the Blue Grotto. Here we transfer
into a tiny rowboat. First we have to
buy tickets (13 E) from a couple of guys on another boat, and pay 13 euros. We
need to lie down in the boat because the entry “hole is very small.” Inside it
is pretty much a wonderland, with the boldest blue water and a sort of black
light effect, and the sound of rowers singing “O Solo Mio” echoing off of the
walls. It is a brief excursion and then we lie down again to make our way out
of the little hole alive.
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| Blue Lagoon-the Little Opening |
Push “up” on the funicolare
and then walk down, down, down to the Marina Piccolo where you will find a
postage stamp sized beach, rocky at that, with a stunning view of I
Faraglioni rocks. Oh snap, now you have to walk back up but think of how great
your calves will look.
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| I Faraglioni |
Have dinner at Isadoro Restaurant and your ever-smiling waiter will
correct your mangled Italian with a kind lesson in aqua senza gas translating to aqua
naturale. There, he has saved me a word already. Have spaghetti with oil,
garlic, chili peppers and walnuts.
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