Only word for it really. Total paradise. Flowers and palms and sun drenched walls. Country lanes and villas and bright blue waves crashing on jagged cliffs below. Palm trees, this little yellow villa in the country under a clear blue sky. It could not be better
“The sun comes up through the silken drapes
The room begins to glow
All in cream-colored ivories and soft yellows
You say hello
Put down that guitar and handed me a rose”
4:30 now, having a little apperitivo on my terrace, listening to the birds and the breeze through the palms. Dinner reservations at the Restorante Da Gelsomina a little ways down the road. Cliff-side, owned by the hotel – so a free shuttle there and back. Sunset should be spectacular.
Back to the morning. Stepping off the boat at Marina Grande with all those Asian tourists. Lingered on the docks a while waiting for the crowds to clear. The shore lined with bars and cafes and hotels. The marina full of little boats. Already the chaos of Naples a million miles away – a perfect antidote. Already the air fragrant with flowers. Little buildings dotting the hillside with vines and flowers and lemon trees.
Got on the Funicolare up to Capri town, up and up cutting through the litte yards and gardens and orchards to a whitewashed expanse of luxury. Designer clothing stores, artisans, jewellers. All about me wealth and opulence. All against a backdrop of soaring views down to the marina and across the bay – Sorrento, Vesuvius.
Found the bus station to take me across the island to Anacapri – these stubby little busses, understandable with these tiny little winding roads and hairpin switchbacks. Almost immediately caught in a traffic jam as busses and scooters and innumerable cabs – they’re all white convertibles here – jostled to get through the town’s one main roundabout intersection. Finally through and it was up the hill.
Anacapri is a more low-key version of its sister across the island. Few little winding streets, some nice shops and restaurants. Still pretty touristy around the main square, but at the same time full of more real life – everyday people who live here buying their vegetables in the open air market, stepping quietly into the beautiful white domed church down the road, groups of kids running and yelling in the streets.
Found my way out of town and to my hotel. Room wasn’t ready yet, so I dropped off my bag and went back to Anacapri for some lunch and a little bit of an explore. After that, checked in, unpacked – felt rather disappointed to only get to pick three shirts out to hang in the closet – already I can see why so many artists and writers just decided to stay here forever. And why this has been a resort island since the days of Ancient Rome.
With the afternoon still open, I picked a road and started walking. Ended up making my way all the way down the mountain to the south-westernmost tip of the island. Winding past groves of lemon trees, down switchbacks offering views of nothing but open blue sea stretching out forever. Past roman ruins – watch towers and a castle high up on a hill. A sheer cliff face dotted with deep caves that only birds could ever reach. Down and down. At the bottom is the Punta Carena Faro – a huge lighthouse. Rocky cliffs, a beach down at the bottom. People swimming and diving off the rocks. Walked out as far as I could, the wind strong against me, until there was nothing in front of me but the Mediterranean.
Took the bus home back to Anacapri (the transit system of this island is remarkably good), then walked home, and here I am.
Tomorrow is east. Back down to Capri – I’m tempted to walk. There’s an old staircase that, in the days before cars and the building of that road, was the only link between the two towns. Across to the north-eastern tip and the Roman ruins of Villa Jovis, then following the western and southern coastline as much as I can. Lots of good hiking trails on this island. Should be a grand day.
Italian Summer 