Bella Capri
Down town Sorrento
A master at work making Cameos
Our hotel the Parco di Principi
Me and Dan on our tour boat around Capri
Inside the Blue Grotto, check out the color of the water, this is a great picture
Me getting ready to head into the Blue Grotto
Inside the Blue Grotto
Dan at breakfast on the beautiful lanai that overlooks the water at our hotel.
Our Pool at our hotel
The Garden View from our room in Sorrento.
Mt. Vesuvis
Our Beach and pool at our hotel in Sorrento. You take the elevator down 7 floors to get there.
The view from our table at the restuarant in Porto Azzuro
Me at dinner in Porto Azzuro
The beach in front of our hotel
Dan standing in front of the castle in Porto Azzuro that in now a maximum security Prison.
Day 11 last day on Elba – new feature…Italian word of the day…spiaggia = beach
We got up about 9 am and decided to go to Porto Azzuro today. We wanted to check out this little port town and do a little exploring and of course shopping. We headed out about 10 am to Porto Azzuro. We had a bit of a time finding parking, Dan reminds me that I got upset at some of the drivers…well DUH!!! Italians are crazy driver that is for sure. We finally found a free parking lot and we found a spot to park in. In all the car there is this little wheel that you spin with the time you arrive for certain free parking lots. You have one hour of free parking. We headed to the center of town and there were some cute little shops along the way. I was interested in buying a sweatshirt that says Italia so I was looking along the way and noticed this one shop. I decided to go back after lunch and check it out. We stopped to eat in the main square at a little pizza place. We had pizza and beer and it was very good. After we ate we headed across the street to look at the marina and all the boats. We wanted to check out some more shops so we went back across the main street and did some more window shopping. I went back to the shop that I saw the sweatshirt but it was closed. We were going to come back for dinner so I would check it out then. There is a castle on top of the hill in the town so we decided to go check it out. When we got to the top there were some workers there doing something or other. We parked the car and I asked them if you could drive up to the top and they said no you must walk. It wasn’t far to the top and we notice all the signs that limit access. We took a few pictures and headed back down to the car. From there we decided to go to Capoliveria, the town that is on the top of the hill. It was a short drive to Capoliveria but there was no parking in the main town. Some of these Italian towns are hard to figure out where to park, where the Center of town is, all the signs and they sometimes can be confusing. I said hey lets go back to the POOL and get some pool time. The vote was yes so we headed back to our hotel and the nice pool. We figured out that all the families leave the pool from about 1-4 PM for lunch and naps I guess, so there are not very many people around. The only trouble is that they leave their towels to save their spots where all the umbrellas are so we have to sit in the sun all the time. That works fine for me, but Dan likes to have some shade as it can get very hot. I figured I have to jump in the pool about every 20 minutes to cool off. It must have been about 5 PM or so and we headed up to the room to shower and get ready to go to dinner. We were going to go back to Porto Azzuro for dinner. We looked at the restaurants that were on the water and I wanted to eat at one of them. Porto Azzuro is about a 15 minute drive from our hotel. It’s not the distance but the curvy roads that take the time. We headed back to the free parking lot and found a spot no problem. That is because it was about 7 PM and that is early for the evening crowd in Italy. We decided on the restaurant La Caliver or the boat. It was shaped like a boat and we got to sit in the bow. The food was very good and we got to watch all the boats come in and all the people get off and head for shore. The food was very good and so was the view. I really enjoyed the restaurant. After dinner we went for a walk around the main square. The shops were all open and there were a lot of people around. They had some kind of puppet show set up for the kids in the main square. We bought two beach towels that were embroidered Isola D’Elba on them. Dan got a blue one and I got a yellow and orange one. We did some more window shopping before heading back to the hotel. Once we got back I could hear the music. They were having the same entertainment as they did the night before, only the singer the night before was MUCH better. The gal that was singing was tone deaf I think..argh…. We packed up to check out early to catch the ferry back to Piambino to head to Sorrento. go to the next day…
Day 12 –…Italian word of the day…zanzara = mosquito
We were up early to get check out to head to the ferry. I did not sleep well and was not looking forward to the 5 plus hour drive to Sorrento. But you do want you have to do…
We had no problem finding the porto for the ferry. They boarded the ferry and we were out of there by 10:00 am. It takes about an hour to get to Piombino. It was a beautiful day and a great ride back to the mainland. We made our way to the autostrada to head south for the long drive to Sorrento. I was struggling with being tired but managed to hang in there. We had two stops for something to drink, restroom stop and a little snack. We finally made it to Naples and we saw Mt. Vesuvius. We made our way through all the road changes over to Sorrento. Dan was navigating us to our hotel and we finally made it there. We checked in and also had our car parked for our trip. We had to pay extra, 15 Euros a day for parking. We had to park it so we paid it. We were impressed with the hotel staff. There spoke English very well and we could tell that it was a first class hotel, we were escorted to our room and we had a porter take care of our bags. My first impression of the hotel and our room was…Wow…this is very nice. The time was about 5 PM for our check in. Once we got settled we went to the beach...or at least the jetty where they have an awesome swimming and sunning area. After a couple of relaxing cocktails (about $15 ea), we were informed that the “beach” closed at 7 so they can prepare the area for “mare” side dining. We freshened up and decided to walk to the Centro of Sorrento. It took about ½ hour to get there. We walked around for about ½ hour until we decided on a place to eat. We picked a place that it off the main area. It was quaint and the food was good. We headed into the shop that was connected to the restaurant to check out the Limoncello. We bought a few things so we had them call a Taxi for us to get back to the hotel. It was 20 Euros for a 10 minute, 1.5 mile ride or about $32. But we didn’t feel like walking back with all that we had bought. I was going to blog when we got home but I was just to tired. I crashed and was dreaming of CAPRI…
Day 13 Bella Capri…word of the day… Salvataggio=Life guard (but not because we needed one)
We were up early to eat an awesome breakfast spread that was included in with our room. We were going to catch the shuttle at 9 am to town so we could catch the early ferry to
Capri. We were dropped off in the main square and we had to walk about 10 minutes down many steps to the porto to buy our tickets to take the ferry over to Capri. I was anxiously awaiting the trip to Capri. I remember my trip to Capri in 1971 when I was 13 and those images have stuck in my mind for 38 years. I was anxious to see if what I remember is what is real now. I was not disappointed to say the least. We made the corner southwest of Sorrento for Capri and I say Capri. The closer we got the more I remembered just how drastically beautiful and different Capri is. The sun was hot and it was very humid. I had my camera and video camera rolling the whole way there. I really wanted to return to the Blue Grotto and take a boat ride around the island to see all of Capri. Once we got off the boat we headed for the ticket booth for the boat ride to the blue grotto and then all the way around the island. For 14 Euros each, we took the trip around Capri and you could choose to go into the Blue Grotto for another 10 Euros each. We choose to go into the Blue Grotto and it was just as I had remembered. They row boats came over to our boat and anyone who wanted to go to the Grotto could just get loaded into one of the little row boats that can squeeze through the small opening. Dan and I jumped into a boat with another couple and our guy got us in line to first pay and then pull us into the grotto. As we waited in line, we both snapped photos of all the boats waiting and I remembered that it was just like that years ago. When it was our turn, we all ducked down as to not hit our heads and our boatswain waited for just the right moment to pull us through the small hole into the Grotto. The water is a florescent blue that is so beautiful. It is just as I remember it. The images of my experience in the Blue Grotto have stuck in my mind for 38 years and I must say that they made an indelible impression in my mind. It just took me back in time as we moved around the cavern looking at the most beautiful water one would ever want to see. I had my video camera going but I’m afraid that it was not focusing because it was dark. However the photos we took with our camera turned out very well. I will put a few on here that Dan took for you to look at. We got in line to head out of the Grotto and as we floated and bounced up and down, one of the other boatswain started singing in the Grotto. He was a very good singer and it really added to the experience. Once out of the Grotto our boatswain reminded us to tip him…kind of tacky but I was watching and listening to other boatswains and they all did it. In our Rick Steve’s book Rick said that a 2 Euro tip per person is plenty so we did. We jumped off the little road boat into our tour boat and waited about 15 minutes for everyone else to get on board so we could take off. Finally everyone was on board and we headed for our trip around the island. It was a beautiful trip and we took many wonderful pictures. Capri really is a wonderful place. It is Saturday and we saw a lot of boats buzzing about. I was very happy with out trip and I told Dan that I was ready to head back to Sorrento. We checked the time for the next boat back and it was ½ hour. We did a little window shopping and bought some water and other drinks for the trip back to Sorrento. We headed out the port to board our ship for the trip back. It is a short trip only about 25 minutes and we were there. We took the bus back up to the main square, otherwise you are trekking uphill a long way. We walked around and did a lot of shopping at some of the great little shops in Sorrento. We also stopped for a bite to eat after asking a local merchant for a recommendation for lunch. It was very good! I had Dan loaded down like my pack mule with all the things we bought and we headed back to our hotel on foot. It is about a 25 minute walk back to our hotel and today was especially hot and muggy. We finally made it and I was ready for a swim at our pool…it is the sea…see pictures. We did some swimming and got some sun for about 2 hours until they closed the beach at 7 PM. We headed back to the room so I could work on my blogging. I have been typing like a mad woman trying to catch up. Tomorrow we are going to drive to Positano and Almafi to check out these two beautiful towns. Well that is all for now so Ciao till tomorrow.
Day 14 a bust.. Word of the day…stuzzicadente = toothpick
Well today was a bust as far as I’m concerned. We made a bad decision to drive to Positano and Almafi. We took some bad advice from the guy that runs the pool at our hotel. The road was extremely curvy and after 11/2 hours of driving on it I was getting a nauseas feeling. You have to concentrate so hard on the road and the crazy Italian drivers that it is no fun at all. We made it to Positano the smaller of the two towns and there was no place to park. People were parking on the road about 2 miles from town and then walking into town. Sorry folks not gonna do it. Because everyone parks along side the road there is just about a lane and a half for traffic. Mix in a few trucks and tour busses and it gets ugly. We gave up just short of Amalfi…25 miles in 90 minutes. We decided to take a different route back to Sorrento. Dan found it on the map and it was somewhat of a short cut, as I was not going to drive back the same way that we came. It took about an hour to get back to Sorrento. Rick Steves is right, take a boat so you don’t have to do the driving. Next time we come to Sorrento we will do just that. Once we got back to the hotel we walked into town, which we now had down to about a 20 minute walk (after Dan modified the route) to find something to eat. We decided to go back to the place we had lunch yesterday as it was again very good. We sat next to 3 girls who were archeologists on a dig just north of Florence. They were from Colorado, Texas and Virginia and were just on their weekend off and decided to check out Sorrento. It was interesting to talk with them. The girl from Colorado had worked on a dig at Pompeii and had spent 3 months in Sorrento. We had a nice lunch and then did a little more shopping. We also stopped and picked up some food for our dinner tonight. We just bought some cheese, meat and crackers. That is plenty for us. Dan also bought a ½ bottle of wine. I wanted to get back to the hotel so we could hit the beach. It is overcast today but still very warm. We stayed until the 7 PM closing and will just relax tonight and get packed because tomorrow we check out. We will be heading back up North with a planned stop in Assisi. Ciao for now…
We got up about 9 am and decided to go to Porto Azzuro today. We wanted to check out this little port town and do a little exploring and of course shopping. We headed out about 10 am to Porto Azzuro. We had a bit of a time finding parking, Dan reminds me that I got upset at some of the drivers…well DUH!!! Italians are crazy driver that is for sure. We finally found a free parking lot and we found a spot to park in. In all the car there is this little wheel that you spin with the time you arrive for certain free parking lots. You have one hour of free parking. We headed to the center of town and there were some cute little shops along the way. I was interested in buying a sweatshirt that says Italia so I was looking along the way and noticed this one shop. I decided to go back after lunch and check it out. We stopped to eat in the main square at a little pizza place. We had pizza and beer and it was very good. After we ate we headed across the street to look at the marina and all the boats. We wanted to check out some more shops so we went back across the main street and did some more window shopping. I went back to the shop that I saw the sweatshirt but it was closed. We were going to come back for dinner so I would check it out then. There is a castle on top of the hill in the town so we decided to go check it out. When we got to the top there were some workers there doing something or other. We parked the car and I asked them if you could drive up to the top and they said no you must walk. It wasn’t far to the top and we notice all the signs that limit access. We took a few pictures and headed back down to the car. From there we decided to go to Capoliveria, the town that is on the top of the hill. It was a short drive to Capoliveria but there was no parking in the main town. Some of these Italian towns are hard to figure out where to park, where the Center of town is, all the signs and they sometimes can be confusing. I said hey lets go back to the POOL and get some pool time. The vote was yes so we headed back to our hotel and the nice pool. We figured out that all the families leave the pool from about 1-4 PM for lunch and naps I guess, so there are not very many people around. The only trouble is that they leave their towels to save their spots where all the umbrellas are so we have to sit in the sun all the time. That works fine for me, but Dan likes to have some shade as it can get very hot. I figured I have to jump in the pool about every 20 minutes to cool off. It must have been about 5 PM or so and we headed up to the room to shower and get ready to go to dinner. We were going to go back to Porto Azzuro for dinner. We looked at the restaurants that were on the water and I wanted to eat at one of them. Porto Azzuro is about a 15 minute drive from our hotel. It’s not the distance but the curvy roads that take the time. We headed back to the free parking lot and found a spot no problem. That is because it was about 7 PM and that is early for the evening crowd in Italy. We decided on the restaurant La Caliver or the boat. It was shaped like a boat and we got to sit in the bow. The food was very good and we got to watch all the boats come in and all the people get off and head for shore. The food was very good and so was the view. I really enjoyed the restaurant. After dinner we went for a walk around the main square. The shops were all open and there were a lot of people around. They had some kind of puppet show set up for the kids in the main square. We bought two beach towels that were embroidered Isola D’Elba on them. Dan got a blue one and I got a yellow and orange one. We did some more window shopping before heading back to the hotel. Once we got back I could hear the music. They were having the same entertainment as they did the night before, only the singer the night before was MUCH better. The gal that was singing was tone deaf I think..argh…. We packed up to check out early to catch the ferry back to Piambino to head to Sorrento. go to the next day…
Day 12 –…Italian word of the day…zanzara = mosquito
We were up early to get check out to head to the ferry. I did not sleep well and was not looking forward to the 5 plus hour drive to Sorrento. But you do want you have to do…
We had no problem finding the porto for the ferry. They boarded the ferry and we were out of there by 10:00 am. It takes about an hour to get to Piombino. It was a beautiful day and a great ride back to the mainland. We made our way to the autostrada to head south for the long drive to Sorrento. I was struggling with being tired but managed to hang in there. We had two stops for something to drink, restroom stop and a little snack. We finally made it to Naples and we saw Mt. Vesuvius. We made our way through all the road changes over to Sorrento. Dan was navigating us to our hotel and we finally made it there. We checked in and also had our car parked for our trip. We had to pay extra, 15 Euros a day for parking. We had to park it so we paid it. We were impressed with the hotel staff. There spoke English very well and we could tell that it was a first class hotel, we were escorted to our room and we had a porter take care of our bags. My first impression of the hotel and our room was…Wow…this is very nice. The time was about 5 PM for our check in. Once we got settled we went to the beach...or at least the jetty where they have an awesome swimming and sunning area. After a couple of relaxing cocktails (about $15 ea), we were informed that the “beach” closed at 7 so they can prepare the area for “mare” side dining. We freshened up and decided to walk to the Centro of Sorrento. It took about ½ hour to get there. We walked around for about ½ hour until we decided on a place to eat. We picked a place that it off the main area. It was quaint and the food was good. We headed into the shop that was connected to the restaurant to check out the Limoncello. We bought a few things so we had them call a Taxi for us to get back to the hotel. It was 20 Euros for a 10 minute, 1.5 mile ride or about $32. But we didn’t feel like walking back with all that we had bought. I was going to blog when we got home but I was just to tired. I crashed and was dreaming of CAPRI…
Day 13 Bella Capri…word of the day… Salvataggio=Life guard (but not because we needed one)
We were up early to eat an awesome breakfast spread that was included in with our room. We were going to catch the shuttle at 9 am to town so we could catch the early ferry to
Capri. We were dropped off in the main square and we had to walk about 10 minutes down many steps to the porto to buy our tickets to take the ferry over to Capri. I was anxiously awaiting the trip to Capri. I remember my trip to Capri in 1971 when I was 13 and those images have stuck in my mind for 38 years. I was anxious to see if what I remember is what is real now. I was not disappointed to say the least. We made the corner southwest of Sorrento for Capri and I say Capri. The closer we got the more I remembered just how drastically beautiful and different Capri is. The sun was hot and it was very humid. I had my camera and video camera rolling the whole way there. I really wanted to return to the Blue Grotto and take a boat ride around the island to see all of Capri. Once we got off the boat we headed for the ticket booth for the boat ride to the blue grotto and then all the way around the island. For 14 Euros each, we took the trip around Capri and you could choose to go into the Blue Grotto for another 10 Euros each. We choose to go into the Blue Grotto and it was just as I had remembered. They row boats came over to our boat and anyone who wanted to go to the Grotto could just get loaded into one of the little row boats that can squeeze through the small opening. Dan and I jumped into a boat with another couple and our guy got us in line to first pay and then pull us into the grotto. As we waited in line, we both snapped photos of all the boats waiting and I remembered that it was just like that years ago. When it was our turn, we all ducked down as to not hit our heads and our boatswain waited for just the right moment to pull us through the small hole into the Grotto. The water is a florescent blue that is so beautiful. It is just as I remember it. The images of my experience in the Blue Grotto have stuck in my mind for 38 years and I must say that they made an indelible impression in my mind. It just took me back in time as we moved around the cavern looking at the most beautiful water one would ever want to see. I had my video camera going but I’m afraid that it was not focusing because it was dark. However the photos we took with our camera turned out very well. I will put a few on here that Dan took for you to look at. We got in line to head out of the Grotto and as we floated and bounced up and down, one of the other boatswain started singing in the Grotto. He was a very good singer and it really added to the experience. Once out of the Grotto our boatswain reminded us to tip him…kind of tacky but I was watching and listening to other boatswains and they all did it. In our Rick Steve’s book Rick said that a 2 Euro tip per person is plenty so we did. We jumped off the little road boat into our tour boat and waited about 15 minutes for everyone else to get on board so we could take off. Finally everyone was on board and we headed for our trip around the island. It was a beautiful trip and we took many wonderful pictures. Capri really is a wonderful place. It is Saturday and we saw a lot of boats buzzing about. I was very happy with out trip and I told Dan that I was ready to head back to Sorrento. We checked the time for the next boat back and it was ½ hour. We did a little window shopping and bought some water and other drinks for the trip back to Sorrento. We headed out the port to board our ship for the trip back. It is a short trip only about 25 minutes and we were there. We took the bus back up to the main square, otherwise you are trekking uphill a long way. We walked around and did a lot of shopping at some of the great little shops in Sorrento. We also stopped for a bite to eat after asking a local merchant for a recommendation for lunch. It was very good! I had Dan loaded down like my pack mule with all the things we bought and we headed back to our hotel on foot. It is about a 25 minute walk back to our hotel and today was especially hot and muggy. We finally made it and I was ready for a swim at our pool…it is the sea…see pictures. We did some swimming and got some sun for about 2 hours until they closed the beach at 7 PM. We headed back to the room so I could work on my blogging. I have been typing like a mad woman trying to catch up. Tomorrow we are going to drive to Positano and Almafi to check out these two beautiful towns. Well that is all for now so Ciao till tomorrow.
Day 14 a bust.. Word of the day…stuzzicadente = toothpick
Well today was a bust as far as I’m concerned. We made a bad decision to drive to Positano and Almafi. We took some bad advice from the guy that runs the pool at our hotel. The road was extremely curvy and after 11/2 hours of driving on it I was getting a nauseas feeling. You have to concentrate so hard on the road and the crazy Italian drivers that it is no fun at all. We made it to Positano the smaller of the two towns and there was no place to park. People were parking on the road about 2 miles from town and then walking into town. Sorry folks not gonna do it. Because everyone parks along side the road there is just about a lane and a half for traffic. Mix in a few trucks and tour busses and it gets ugly. We gave up just short of Amalfi…25 miles in 90 minutes. We decided to take a different route back to Sorrento. Dan found it on the map and it was somewhat of a short cut, as I was not going to drive back the same way that we came. It took about an hour to get back to Sorrento. Rick Steves is right, take a boat so you don’t have to do the driving. Next time we come to Sorrento we will do just that. Once we got back to the hotel we walked into town, which we now had down to about a 20 minute walk (after Dan modified the route) to find something to eat. We decided to go back to the place we had lunch yesterday as it was again very good. We sat next to 3 girls who were archeologists on a dig just north of Florence. They were from Colorado, Texas and Virginia and were just on their weekend off and decided to check out Sorrento. It was interesting to talk with them. The girl from Colorado had worked on a dig at Pompeii and had spent 3 months in Sorrento. We had a nice lunch and then did a little more shopping. We also stopped and picked up some food for our dinner tonight. We just bought some cheese, meat and crackers. That is plenty for us. Dan also bought a ½ bottle of wine. I wanted to get back to the hotel so we could hit the beach. It is overcast today but still very warm. We stayed until the 7 PM closing and will just relax tonight and get packed because tomorrow we check out. We will be heading back up North with a planned stop in Assisi. Ciao for now…
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