The Isle of Capri: Anacapri and Capri Town

                  THE ISLE OF CAPRI: ANACAPRI                     & CAPRI TOWN


At last blue skies greeted us, although it was a windy morning.  After breakfast at the hotel restaurant (as mentioned earlier, a Tauck staple), we walked back down to the edge of town and boarded the convertible (yes!) taxis to follow the lyrics of Sly & the Family Stone's "I Want to Take You Higher" up, up, up another 400'+ to the enchanting little town of Anacapri. (To my surprise and delight, Ravello and Sorrento have been surpassed as my favorite place in Italy ... so far.)  Getting here meant easing along on narrow, serpentine roads from Capri Town to Anacapri.  





Upon arrival in Anacapri our little taxis let us out, and we met our Italian guide, who led us through Villa San Michele, the garden and mansion of Swedish doctor and author Axel Munthe.  The estate is chock full of art, literature, relics, and garden plants, and it has a spectacular view of the island below. Photos of it follow:











With a population of just over 6,000 Anacapri is not a major commercial area, but it has plenty of shops to offer the many tourists who visit from March to November. (Parenthetically, I'll add the Capri closes down during the winter months.  In fact, our first taxi driver told us that the choices of seasonal workers are to either try to make and save as much as possible and "hunker down" -- quite challenging in a place visited by celebrities and settled by the obscenely rich -- or to go the mainland and work during the winters.) 



And, Anacapri has not one but three of the ancient cathedrals any Italian city of consequence seems obliged to have, our favorite being the Chiesa di Monumentale di San Michele, a relatively small, church built in the early 1700's which looks deceptively simple on the exterior.  Inside ... oh, my! ... is a majolica tile floor on which in 1761 was painted the scene of the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden.  






Another scenic option for some from Anacapri is the Monte Solaro (highest point on Capri) chair lift. "They" say the lift, which consists of basically ski lift chairs, is a 13 minute ride to the top. Having gazed at their ascension, on this windy day I chose to consider my life complete without having had the experience. I had briefly conquered my acrophobia on the funicolare at Positano.  Why tempt fate again?

One of the highlights of our day was scheduled to be a boat ride around the island which was slated after our descent from Anacapri.  I was really looking forward to that. However, weather again proved that it is beyond our control, and the winds made the sea too rough for the boat ride, as well as for my plan to schedule a private trip to the Blue Grotto, a cave that requires a small boat ride out to a transfer point, where one then boards and flattens out in the floor of a rowboat that squeezes you inside the grotto.  Rough weather makes egress risky if not impossible, so that was another bucket list item I'd hoped to check off that I'll have to save for next time.  Damn.

The afternoon was far from a loss, however.  On the way back from Anacapri we stopped at Punta Carena to see the faro (lighthouse) and the lido (beach club). We wound our way back down to the Capri Town and went to lunch with our Aussie friends, Ian and Jenny.  Susan and I enjoyed our first genuine Italian pizza at the Villa Verde.  Afterwards we went behind our hotel to the Giardini di Augusto (Gardens of Augustus), where the flowers were beautiful and the views of the Faraglioni magnificent.  (The Faraglioni are rock sea stacks which rise about 300' out of the sea.)












That evening we had a relaxed time first with cocktails and snacks with our tour friends Jim and Lisa from Milwaukee.  Then Susan and I had dinner at the nearby Al Grottino, a small family restaurant where I had made online reservations before we left, based on positive reviews over a number of years. It was a very good choice!  

Then we packed our bags again for our move to our last hotel of the tour.  It had been a full and enjoyable day in what has to be one of the most scenic spots on this good earth.  But Herculaneum and Rome beckon tomorrow.


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