Sorrento, Italy

Monday 11th June: Isle of Capri

We woke to another hot, clear and beautiful day and made our way down to the wharf to catch the 9.30 ferry to the Isle of Capri. Capri is a spectacular limestone island rising out of the ocean with sheer cliffs bordering most of its coastline and covered with lush vegetation similar to Sorrento. It is a Geologist’s dream of a day trip! ‘Jerry’, an elderly and eccentric local of Capri, was searching for victims for his tour of the island which we agreed to with some hesitation. We had scored a complete dud of a guide for 2hrs at Pompei! Our day with Jerry though turned out to be an educational, entertaining and most enjoyable one. According to him, Capri was once joined to the mainland at Sorrento, a point I will have to clarify later perhaps with some help. Jerry showed us around Anacapri and Capri, the two main townships of the island and looked after us from our arrival until about 3.30pm. His tour included two cable rides, one to the top of Anacapri and one from Capri own to the harbour. The Limoncello stop was a hit but Mark would only let me buy one bottle as opposed to the 1 doz that I tried to negotiate having sent home. We took a 1 hr boat ride around the island in the late afternoon after parting from Jerry and saw where Giorgio Armani and Sophia Lauren ‘chill’ when they have down time. The perimeter of the island is scoured with numerous limestone caves; the ‘Blue Grotto’ being the most famous of these. Whilst impressive they fall well short of those around Thailand; a fact I kept to myself though.

We took the fast ferry / hydrofoil back and arrived in at about 6pm, climbed back up from the harbour to Sorrento and had a final drink at the Foreigner’s Bar before heading home for a night dining in. So far, I have cooked better Italian than any we have dined out on!! Another great day…we have been lucky or savvy so far or, both.