Anacapri, Campania, Italy
Still overcast but not as hot or humid. Could be that being on an island, you get more breeze. After a good breakfast - we can get toast here - we set off on our half day tour of the island. First we walked about 250 metres uphill to the Villa San Michele, the home of a famous writer who spent his last years here. He built his villa on the site of an old Roman Villa. Capri has been a place to retire to since the caesars. The house itself was small but the beautiful gardens were extensive and perched right on the cliff edge. Unfortunately, about half way through our visit, Edie was feeling really unwell - a combination of the cold/flu and the heat and the strenuous pace we have had to keep up. So l took her back to the hotel to lie done. We had not been allocated a new room, so with the assistance of Loredana, our tour leader, she was able to go back to the dungeon room until the new room was ready.
Meanwhile, I went back to join the tour. I was too late to take the chair lift to the highest point on the island, but I wasn't too disappointed as my fear of heights had had a let off. So l spent my free time wandering around Anacapri which was a beautiful village. After everyone had returned we all caught a bus down the Mama Mia road to the town of Capri.
We all walked across the island to some gardens on the other side and had a wonderful view of the offshore islands and the Krupp zig zag pathway. We were then left to our own devises until 1.30. I wandered back through Capri until I reached the town square and then caught the funicular (cable train) down to the Marina Grande and had something to eat and took a few photos.
We met up again with the guide who suggested that we could extend the tour (at an extra expense) and go on a boat ride around the island which would take about one hour. Most took the boat ride while the rest were driven back to the respective hotels.
The island is a single block of limestone, 3.9 miles long by 1.8 miles wide so can easily be circumnavigated by boat in an hour. Once out of the harbour I look back to see the Mama Mia road and our hotel. The Statue of Scugnizzo (a young lad) is waving us welcome ,or is that goodbye. There are numerous caves or grottos at the waterline. They are mainly named for colours. The White Grotto derives its name from clusters of white stalactites which hang from the roof and fringe the entrance. You can get close enough to look into an upper cave to see a stalagmite that resembles a praying madonna. The colour of the Green Grotto and the Blue Grotto is caused by sunlight passing through an underwater cavity and shining through the seawater creating a green or blue reflection that illuminates the cavern. Conditions must be perfect to enter the Blue Grotto, owing to the very small entrance. You get into small boats and lie flat while the boatman pulls the boat through & you have 5 minutes to enjoy it. This was not happening today. I really enjoyed the whole experience.
I returned to the hotel to find Edie in our new room and much improved. The room was sparce but had double doors leading out to a large terrace. And there was plenty of fresh air. I had bought up big at the pharmacy so she took some tablets and said she at least wanted to visit Anacapri, so we went out and wandered around for a couple hours. A lot of people came up to her at dinner and were glad to see she was on the mend. At dinner we had mushroom risotto, pork with roast potatoes and peas, and ice cream for desert. It had been an unusual day, but we had both liked the Isle of Capri very much. We can tick this off the bucket list.
2025-05-23