 |
| On the ferry leaving Naples |
 |
| Arco Naturale |
 |
| Yoga on the beach |
Allora, again with the 6 am flights…. We leave our apartment at 3 am, take a taxi to a different airport (El Prato this time… MUCH closer to the city center). MY LAST RYAINAIR FLIGHT! WOOO!!! They definitely didn’t make it easy for us though. See, you are allotted only one carry on, and they MEAN IT – you can’t even be holding a clutch in your hand if you have a bookbag. ONE CARRYON. They are crazy. And your bookbag/suitcase must fit in this tiny box thing, so here we are, stuffing everything we can into our clothes so our bookbags are either not too “big” or because we can’t fit everything in them to begin with. Poor Veronica looks about 10 pounds fatter, rice cakes stuffed in each pocket, atleast 4 layers on, things stuffed down her pants. Quite comical. Luckily, we make it onto the plane without having to pay any extra fees. Close call for Ashley, her suitcase just a little “too big” but she just hops in a different line and makes it on. Phew.
 |
| Port of Napoli |
We fly into Rome Ciampino and then take a bus for an hour to the train station. Now, our ORIGINAL plan was to spend the day in Rome, THEN train to Naples, THEN ferry to Capri…. Uhhhh, NO. We were crazy to think we could travel since 3 am and then sightsee Rome, and then Capri. Luckily, we could change our ticket to an earlier train quite easily and we were on our way to Naples by 9:30. Arriving in Naples by noon, we decide to walk to the port so we can see Naples… ummmm…. Yeah, there isn’t anything to see.
- There is trash EVERYWHERE.
- Disgusting.
- It smells HORRIBLE.
- I felt very uncomfortable/unsafe… and it was the middle of the day
- Overall, pretty sketch
 |
| the Bay of Naples |
Now, I know there are beautiful parts to Naples… but I honestly think it is most beautiful when you are on a ferry sailing away from it. The view of the Bay of Naples is gorgeous and I think that is as close as I want to come again. Naples is acclaimed to the best pizza in Italy, but we didn’t want to hang around to try it…
 |
| the Bay of Naples |
And out of the filth and grim, we arrive in Paradise: the Isle of Capri. After 12 hours of traveling, it is such a reward not only to arrive at our destination, but a bonus that it is the most beautiful place I have ever seen. Over the next 3 days (Monday evening through Thursday evening), we exhaust every possible thing to do on Capri. Originally, we intended to do Almafi, Capri, Positano, and Pompeii in this time period (always trying to do too much, I know. But I’ve seriously learned my lesson), but after our traveling experiences prior to spring break, we decided not to push ourselves and utilize the break to sightsee
and relax. After all, we do have 3 ten page papers to write, completely in Italian, once back in Siena….
 |
| entering the Marina Grande of Capri |
Capri has two towns, Capri and Anacapri (which means “above” Capri). After getting off the ferry, we take a bus up to Anacapri and check into our bed and breakfast, Hotel Bussola – it is the perfect little place to stay, so elegantly decorated, clean, with breakfast included, and the owners are just the NICEST people ever. They essentially planned out all the activities for us to do during our stay with directions and a map and everything. We walk around the town of Anacapri, have some pretty baller pizza for dinner, and head in early for the night.
We leave early the next morning for the
Grotta Azzurra. Oh my word, everyone needs to see the Blue Grotto. Lucky for us, it’s pretty close to Anacapri. After taking the bus to the Grotto, Veronica, Kristina, Brenna, and I hop in a little canoe and within a minute we are already inside the Grotto. You have to lie down in the canoe because the entrance is really tiny. Once you’re inside, it’s like the water is glowing this bright bright blue. Our canoe man, along with all the others, is singing in beautiful Italian, the music echoing in the cave. Pretty romantic. But our canoe man even let us swim in the water!! Goodness gracious, it was freezing and I was in for about 30 seconds before scrambling back into the canoe, but still. I swam in the Blue Grotto. Take that. I am so glad we got there early because when we came out, there were tons people lined up to go in and tourist season is just
barely beginning. There is a legend that if you bring your husband to the blue grotto…. And…. Well… your kids will have blue eyes. Even if it doesn’t work, it still would make a cool story.
 |
| Kristina was SOOOOO excited for the Blue Grotto |
 |
| Yeah, Veronica and I are pretty stoked too |
 |
| entering the Grotta Azzurra |
 |
| swimming in the blue grotto! |
After the Blue Grotto, we take the chairlift up to Mount Solare, which provides the best view of the entire island. It’s stunning, for you can see everywhere on the island practically. We spend the rest of our day around Anacapri, topping off the night with a FABULOUS dinner – Gnocchi Gorgonzola, OH MY GOODNESS, best dinner I’ve had here. The wine, which I’m still trying to find so I can buy a bottle, Piedirosso di Tiberio, is the best wine I’ve had in Italy, I swear.
 |
| the chairlift up Mount Solare |
 |
| Anacapri! |
 |
| the town of Anacapri |
 |
| Anacapri |
 |
| Capri side |
 |
| Veronica, Me, Kristina, Brenna |
Wednesday, we spend all day on the Capri side of the island. We walk around the town some, then proceed on our hike, which is supposed to take and hour and a half. Well, after we spend some time at the Arco Naturale, we go the wrong way, adding about 2 hours to our hike… but no worries, I saw even more of the island this way, so it’s all good in the end. Near the end of the hike, we come to this little “rock beach” and soak up the last hours of sun laying on the rocks and jumping into the pretty cold water. Finally back into the town of Capri, we visit the Giardino Agosto, a quaint and beautiful garden with yet another fantastic view. Eating the best gelato ever, homemade limone e fragola, lemon and strawberry (the lemons, limoncello, etc. are famous on the island), we meet these two old Italian men from Capri, caprese, who are so proud of us for our actually being able to speak Italian, and not that poorly. I swear all of the caprese people on the island are the nicest people in Italy.
 |
| Arco Naturale |
 |
| the rock beach we chilled on |
 |
| WEE! but the water was freezing... |
 |
| Giardino Agosto |
Thursday, we do another hike, this one 3 hours, along the Anacapri side of the island. It starts up by the blue grotto and goes all along the coast to Faro beach (which means lighthouse. Yes, there is a big lighthouse there). We finish our day shopping around Capri, souvenir hunting, before taking the 8:30pm ferry back to Naples.
 |
| Anacapri coast |
 |
| Faro beach |
Capri is definitely one of the loveliest places in Italy. Most people only take day trips to Capri, but it’s a shame because you can’t do everything we did in just one day. I feel as if I did everything possible on Capri, but I would still go back. It’s a very cute and quaint mix of a boutique and nature; there is both lots of shopping and lots of outdoor activity. It is just not possible to be anything but relaxed – there is nothing stressful or exhausting about Capri, except maybe being exhausted from hiking. Capri also kind of reminds me of Neverland from Peter Pan or the world in Avatar. The perfect little Italian paradise that feels almost like another world.
Next stop: Cinque Terre!
 |
| Faro Beach |
 |
| Kristina doing some Yoga |
 |
| Kristina and I doing some more yoga |
 |
| above view from the hike of the beach we chilled on |
 |
| Marina Grande at night |
We leave early the next morning for the Grotta Azzurra. Oh my word, everyone needs to see the Blue Grotto. Lucky for us, it’s pretty close to Anacapri. After taking the bus to the Grotto, Veronica, Kristina, Brenna, and I hop in a little canoe and within a minute we are already inside the Grotto. You have to lie down in the canoe because the entrance is really tiny. Once you’re inside, it’s like the water is glowing this bright bright blue. Our canoe man, along with all the others, is singing in beautiful Italian, the music echoing in the cave. Pretty romantic. But our canoe man even let us swim in the water!! Goodness gracious, it was freezing and I was in for about 30 seconds before scrambling back into the canoe, but still. I swam in the Blue Grotto. Take that. I am so glad we got there early because when we came out, there were tons people lined up to go in and tourist season is just barely beginning. There is a legend that if you bring your husband to the blue grotto…. And…. Well… your kids will have blue eyes. Even if it doesn’t work, it still would make a cool story.
