You know you’ve arrived in Italy when everyone is wearing designer suits....and huge sunglasses, inside the terminal building. We arrived at Naples mid morning after a good flight - smooth and clear most of the way, with spectacular views of the sunrise and the snow-capped Alps - and were waiting for our luggage to fall onto the conveyer belt, when a plane load of Italians emptied into the hall, immediately filling it with their animated conversation, designer gear and requisite shades. Ciao!
Luggage retrieved, we were herded by the efficient holiday reps onto the correct buses (unlike our last package holiday in Egypt where, in keeping with the general chaos of that magnificent country, at least three people ended up on the wrong bus and subsequently in the wrong resort). A couple of hours later, we’d checked into our fabulous hotel just outside the main hub of Sorrento and were admiring the views from our balcony....
View of Sorrento from our balcony
Vesuvius at dusk
By now, our stomachs were growling (that slightly odd in-flight breakfast seemed a long time ago) so we decided to grab a quick lunch at the hotel restaurant before heading out to explore our surroundings. With the first of many pizzas that would be consumed in a high-carb-fuelled week in our tums, we set off on the 15-minute walk down the hill to Sorrento town centre. What goes down must come back up again, as we quickly discovered. The Neapolitan peninsula is a very hilly terrain...there are 155 rocky steps down to the Marina Piccolo...our first “port of call” and the place to which all passengers on cruise liners docking in the bay arrive, and from where we knew we’d have to catch the hydrofoils to the islands of Capri and Ischia, both on our list of “Would Like To Visit”. Another stop by the Sorrento station and we were thus equipped with every boat, bus and train timetable that would enable us to traverse the peninsula over the coming days.
Time for a cappuccino at The Foreigners’ Club, overlooking the bay and then a hour or two of haphazard wandering through the narrow streets and alleyways of old Sorrento town. We’d been warned to watch out for scooters...and for good reason! B almost got taken out by demon drivers on Vespas no less than three times that week and on one momentous occasion, an elderly gent on a bicycle. A huge gelato (ice cream) at one of the many gelaterias (again the first of many consumed that week) gave us the energy to walk back up the hill to the hotel for a nap before dinner.
Time for a cappuccino at The Foreigners’ Club, overlooking the bay and then a hour or two of haphazard wandering through the narrow streets and alleyways of old Sorrento town. We’d been warned to watch out for scooters...and for good reason! B almost got taken out by demon drivers on Vespas no less than three times that week and on one momentous occasion, an elderly gent on a bicycle. A huge gelato (ice cream) at one of the many gelaterias (again the first of many consumed that week) gave us the energy to walk back up the hill to the hotel for a nap before dinner.
Sorrento
The next day dawned bright and sunny and we were up early to catch one of the first hydrofoils to the island of Capri (about a 20-minute crossing). A quick trip up the funicular from Capri’s bustling Marina Grande and we were in the heart of Capri town, Piazza Umberto I. From here we meandered through the narrow old streets, up the steep Via Croce and past exclusive villas out to the Arco Naturale, an impressive phenomenon of natural erosion.
Arco Naturale
Quite close to the Arco is “Le Grotelle” restaurant, a superb spot to stop and have a cappuccino and admire the view, before we began the trek up to the ruins of Villa Jovis, which was the largest and most luxurious of Emperor Tiberius’ many villas on Capri. It was here that Tiberius retired in AD 27, reportedly to lead a life of vice and debauchery, and to take revenge on his enemies...many of whom he apparently had thrown off the cliff face. Stunning views from here, all the same....
View of the peninsula from Villa Jovis
Back down along the streets with designer shops to Capri town for a delicious lunch of prosciutto and melon followed by fresh ravioli at “Buca di Bacco da Serafina”, where we were lucky to snag the only table with a window overlooking Marina Grande. Then it was time to take the hair-raising ride on the local bus up to Anacapri....the road makes a rapid ascent, with a sheer (barrier-free) drop on the side, made ever more terrifying by the Italian style of driving...rapid speed ups with sharp and erratic breaking...plus the added bonus that we were standing right in front of the windscreen. We stepped off the bus in Anacapri, pumped full of adrenaline....probably just as well, as the next part of the journey required a touch of gung ho for anyone with vertigo. Taking the chair lift to the highest point on the island, Monte Salaro, was strangely relaxing and the 360-degree views of the bay and particularly of I Faraglioni were spectacular.
I Faraglioni
It was almost evening by now and time to make our way back down to Capri town and down to the Marina for the return hydrofoil to the mainland. On our way, we paused to gawp at a film crew shooting a cafe scene in Piazza Umberto.
Chair lift back to Anacapri
Film crew in Piazza Umberto
Clock tower on Capri
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