Another part of my trip report covering our recent visit to Italy. This part looks at the Isle of Capri, off of Italy’s Amalfi Coast. Capri is definitely a site to behold. With its huge elevation changes on such a small island, the views are simply dramatic. The day started out from our hotel, The Belair, in Sorrento. The hotel itself is placed on the ledge of one of the cliffs along the shore line and its the only hotel I’ve ever been in where you enter from the roof, and take the elevator downstairs to the lobby and the rest of the floors. But I digress.

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Rooftop entrance to our hotel

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Spectacular view from Hotel

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Part of the Cliff exposed in the Hotel stairwell

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Another fantastic view from Hotel

From Sorrento, its a quick 30 minute Hydrojet Boat ride to the Island. I believe a round trip ticket on the ferry was in the 30 Euro range. The ferry docks at the village of Marina Grande, which is situated conveniently between the 2 large peaks of the island. On the eastern peak is the small village of Capri, and to the west on the other peak, is Anacapri. Its a short cab ride up either side, or take the public buses which are plentiful. Be careful not to fall for a taxi cab drivers pitch about paying him to spend the whole day driving you around. For about 5 Euro, you can take the bus up to Capri, then over to Anacapri (and thats a scary climb on hairpin roads climbing the cliff), and back to Marina Grande to catch the ferry back to the mainland.

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We needed to walk down there to get to sea level for the ferry to Capri

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Marina Grande on the Isle of Capri

Capri and Anacapri are quite opposite of each other not only in location but in feel as well. Based on what I observed, Capri is geared towards a high end clientel. Walking through through the narrow cobblestone streets, you are quickly surrounded by every luxury brand name you can imagine, and then some that you’ve never heard of as well! There was one instance where Mrs. LufthansaFlyer was window shopping a jewelery store and as I caught up with her, she asked if she could spend 265,000 EURO on a necklace. You read that correctly. thats a comma in the number, not a period. I told her to offer $200,000 EURO, but not a penny more. I know when I’m getting ripped off in a retail shop! Safe to say that the trusty Amex card stayed safely tucked away in my wallet.

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Approaching the Village of Capri

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A typical street in Capri

When you pass by the various restaurants and bars, and look at their windows, you see photographs attached to the glass covering the who’s who of Hollywood and Politics. Apparently Capri has been visited by Jackie Onassis, Danny DeVito, George Clooney, etc. etc. etc. and etc. Definitely had the impression that it was a playground for the rich and famous. Our 70 Euro lunch at a nice little restaurant just past all the shops was proof enough. Capri is a beautiful village with a lot to see, especially as far as shopping is concerned. There are shops that do cater to those that can’t drop a quarter million Euro on a necklace, so you will not be wasting your time to explore Capri. Actually the Isle is popular for its hand made ladies’ leather sandals. Those make for a great souvenir or gift since you can pick and choose what is put on the sandle, and they make it for you as you watch. A nice gift in the 100-200 Euro range.

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More of Capri

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Looking west, out of Capri

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Another great view from Capri

Anacapri, on the other side of the island, is simply different. It does not have the same feel as Capri does. Anacapri has a much more residential tone to it. Once you leave the immediate area of the main bus stop, you find yourself walking through a very nice and quiet neighborhood lined with beautiful homes and gardens. A few shops line the route, but its the shops where the locals go. You won’t find too many high end boutiques in Anacapri, but you’ll find great little shops that have a lot to offer. We walked quite a bit through Anacapri and simply loved how quiet and peaceful things were compared to the energy you found in Capri. An absolute must to in Anacapri is the The Museum House of Villa San Michele. THIS IS THE PLACE for some of the greatest photographs you may ever capture. Simply stunning views. We almost missed this spot, but fortunately we decided to walk down just a pedestrian street just a little bit more and stumbled upon it quite by accident. As you see in the pictures, its a place you definitely want to get to while at Anacapri.

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Quieter streets in Anacapri

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Quiet residential Plaza

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Happy Cow Butcher Shop????

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Anacapri is full of beautiful tree lined streets

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And locals who like attention........

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Quaint street with nice shops

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This is from the Villa Museum House of San Michele

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Great Views

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The Ferry that serves Capri from Sorrento

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Departing Capri

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Aprroaching Sorrento

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Approaching Sorrento

We took the 10am ferry to Capri and had plenty of time to see everything we wanted to in Capri and Anacapri and were back on the 4pm Ferry back to Sorrento. Ferries begin leaving Sorrento at 7 or 8am and the last ferry departs Capri at 7pm for the trip back to Sorrento. A day was plenty of time to visit one of the most scenic places that I’ve ever experienced. We however did agree that if we return, that we should spend a night in Capri just to see who we may wind up rubbing elbows with. Who knows, maybe next time we’ll be doing shots of Limoncello with George Clooney and Danny DeVito, fresh from Devito’s distellery.