Saturday, April 16, 2011
Italy Part Two...
We had a free day on Tuesday and so decided to brave the public transport and explore Capri. There are three main areas to Capri; Anacapri, where our hotel was, Capri and Marina Grande, where the ferry docked. The buses are tiny orange ones which whiz fearlessly around the hairpin bends and sheer drops, and usually absolutely packed with about 30 people jostling for a little bit of standing room and a tiny piece of metal pole to cling on desperately to.
Me and Anne caught the bus to Capri, which is a lovely little town with a square, and little alleyways revealing the kind of boutique shops which don't display the prices in the windows.
We found a lane which wound between houses and hotels and ended at a viewpoint;
We retraced our steps and found the Saint Augustine gardens. It was a gloriously hot, sunny day at this point;
Looking over Faraglioni Rocks
After a capuccino we headed downhill towards the Marina Grande, and took a boat trip around the island- it takes around an hour, and as we headed out it was still glorious sunshine...
Tiny Statue On The Rocks
Natural Arch In The Faraglioni Rocks- Which We Went Through
When we were about halfway round the island, all of a sudden the sun just disappeared into thick, swirling cloud- just as if someone had flicked a switch. The wind got up and it felt really chilly- a total contrast to how it had been just an hour before. I thought it looked stormy, and just as we reached dry land, it started to rain. We took refuge in a Pizzeria before catching the bus back to Anacapri- we were just walking back down to the hotel when there was a terrific crash of thunder!
Wednesday we were a little concerned that the weather may have broken, but we woke to a lovely blue sky. We had a quite early start as our bus driver needed to get up down to the harbour at breakneck speed just so we could wait for 20 minutes to catch a ferry to Sorrento.
Leaving Capri
Sorrento was lovely too- roads lined with wild orange trees and lemons everywhere. We had our included drive up the Amalfi Coast this morning, and as we boarded the bus we picked up a couple of Brits who had landed in Sorrento on another tour. Lambros announced that all of the spectacular views would be on the right- which was a bit of a bummer as me and Anne were sitting on the left! But as we were due to come back the same way we figured we'd get the views coming back.
The Amalfi Coast is spectacular- rocky cliffs reaching out to turquoise seas with little whitewashed villages clinging to them. We had a couple of 'view stops' on route to Amalfi;
Looking Towards Positano
Local Produce!
We had some free time in Amalfi, which is a pretty little town, so had an obligatory pizza and ice cream lunch... god it was such hard work...
A Shop- Either World Of Lemon or Lemon Planet...
When it was time to return to Sorrento, me and Anne clambered back on board the bus to find the new Brit couple had taken our seats- they had been on the right before so that they obviously decided that they would like the views going back as well, thank you very much! After making our feelings known, they decided to return to their original seats. Then Lambros informed us that due to the size of our vehicle, the police requested that instead of returning the way we had come, we carry on further along the coast road- which meant that we would see more of the coast road but the views would still all be on the right!
Everyone sitting on the right immediately offered to swap places with those of us on the left... except for the new couple, who stayed resolutely in their seats! Not impressed...
It was difficult to take pictures from a moving vehicle but we stopped for a view over Sorrento;
Thursday we had an optional excurtion to Naples (or should I say Napoli!) Naples is very busy and bustling- at first sight it doesn't appear to have the history of Rome, but Lambros told us that this isn't the case- everytime they try to build something in Naples they end up tripping over more ancient Roman or Greek antiquities.
After a drive through of Naples, we had a stop at a couple of places for a view over the Bay of Naples;
We had a quick guided tour and then some free time in one of the main shopping areas.
We were told that the restaurant owned by the chap who invented the very first Margherita pizza was nearby- Brandi's- and found it up a little alleyway. We initially thought it would be way to expensive to eat there, but it was actually very reasonable... I had a Margherita, for history's sake, and when it came it was like a bloody wheel!
The story is that Raffaele Esposito created a pizza for Princess Margherita of Savoie in 1871 and as Italy had recently been unified into one country he decided to make it in honour of the new tri-colour flag- red tomato sauce, white mozzarella and green basil.
While we were eating possibly the most authentic pizza we could ever hope to eat, we were serenaded by a guitar player, who sang 'Amore'- doesn't get any more authentic than that!
Oh, and Italian ice cream is to die for...
It was our last night in Italy, and so we had a walk around downtown Sorrento, sipping Cafe Lattes in the square and snapping up souvenirs. I would love to go back to Sorrento again someday...
Me and Anne caught the bus to Capri, which is a lovely little town with a square, and little alleyways revealing the kind of boutique shops which don't display the prices in the windows.
We retraced our steps and found the Saint Augustine gardens. It was a gloriously hot, sunny day at this point;
Path Leading Down To The Shore- We Didn't Take This But It Would Have Been Fun!
After a capuccino we headed downhill towards the Marina Grande, and took a boat trip around the island- it takes around an hour, and as we headed out it was still glorious sunshine...
When we were about halfway round the island, all of a sudden the sun just disappeared into thick, swirling cloud- just as if someone had flicked a switch. The wind got up and it felt really chilly- a total contrast to how it had been just an hour before. I thought it looked stormy, and just as we reached dry land, it started to rain. We took refuge in a Pizzeria before catching the bus back to Anacapri- we were just walking back down to the hotel when there was a terrific crash of thunder!
Wednesday we were a little concerned that the weather may have broken, but we woke to a lovely blue sky. We had a quite early start as our bus driver needed to get up down to the harbour at breakneck speed just so we could wait for 20 minutes to catch a ferry to Sorrento.
Sorrento was lovely too- roads lined with wild orange trees and lemons everywhere. We had our included drive up the Amalfi Coast this morning, and as we boarded the bus we picked up a couple of Brits who had landed in Sorrento on another tour. Lambros announced that all of the spectacular views would be on the right- which was a bit of a bummer as me and Anne were sitting on the left! But as we were due to come back the same way we figured we'd get the views coming back.
The Amalfi Coast is spectacular- rocky cliffs reaching out to turquoise seas with little whitewashed villages clinging to them. We had a couple of 'view stops' on route to Amalfi;
We had some free time in Amalfi, which is a pretty little town, so had an obligatory pizza and ice cream lunch... god it was such hard work...
When it was time to return to Sorrento, me and Anne clambered back on board the bus to find the new Brit couple had taken our seats- they had been on the right before so that they obviously decided that they would like the views going back as well, thank you very much! After making our feelings known, they decided to return to their original seats. Then Lambros informed us that due to the size of our vehicle, the police requested that instead of returning the way we had come, we carry on further along the coast road- which meant that we would see more of the coast road but the views would still all be on the right!
Everyone sitting on the right immediately offered to swap places with those of us on the left... except for the new couple, who stayed resolutely in their seats! Not impressed...
It was difficult to take pictures from a moving vehicle but we stopped for a view over Sorrento;
Thursday we had an optional excurtion to Naples (or should I say Napoli!) Naples is very busy and bustling- at first sight it doesn't appear to have the history of Rome, but Lambros told us that this isn't the case- everytime they try to build something in Naples they end up tripping over more ancient Roman or Greek antiquities.
After a drive through of Naples, we had a stop at a couple of places for a view over the Bay of Naples;
We had a quick guided tour and then some free time in one of the main shopping areas.
This Shopping Centre Had High Arched Glass Ceilings And Mosaic Floors
We were told that the restaurant owned by the chap who invented the very first Margherita pizza was nearby- Brandi's- and found it up a little alleyway. We initially thought it would be way to expensive to eat there, but it was actually very reasonable... I had a Margherita, for history's sake, and when it came it was like a bloody wheel!
The story is that Raffaele Esposito created a pizza for Princess Margherita of Savoie in 1871 and as Italy had recently been unified into one country he decided to make it in honour of the new tri-colour flag- red tomato sauce, white mozzarella and green basil.
While we were eating possibly the most authentic pizza we could ever hope to eat, we were serenaded by a guitar player, who sang 'Amore'- doesn't get any more authentic than that!
Oh, and Italian ice cream is to die for...
It was our last night in Italy, and so we had a walk around downtown Sorrento, sipping Cafe Lattes in the square and snapping up souvenirs. I would love to go back to Sorrento again someday...
Labels: Capri, Naples, Sorrento
