Our second day in Sorrento was free and most of us opted to take a boat out to the Isle of Capri to explore.
It was a hazy morning but a pleasant boat ride
out to the island.
Our plan was to go see the Blue Grotto but there were too many tourist-filled boats ahead of us even though we’d set out early. Our boatman said the wait would be at least an hour and on a hazy day we’d not see very much. It looked to me like our wait would be more like several hours. We’d already seen a number of beautiful caves by boat so we opted out and instead walked up the hill to Capri town and spotted this
fabulous Fiat 1500 taxi waiting there. This gave us an idea. We hired an open air taxi for E90 (there were 6 of us so only E15 each) to give us an hour-long personal tour. Our taxi was not as elegant as the Fiat 1500 but it was comfortable and we had a great guide in
Emiliano who was born and raised on this picturesque island of about 12,000. When we asked what it was like to live on Capri he said “Good and Bad. Everyone knows everyone so no secrets. If you are seen with another girl everyone on the island knows about it in 2 hours.” I guess that’s one way to keep the flirt genes in check! Or to keep the flirt in the jeans!
We stopped off for various picture opps.
A lighthouse. It was fun to be up in the
crown of the umbrella pines (where the pine nuts come from).
What an ideal place for a pool at this seaside villa! We asked about the stories of Emporor Tiberius tossing his enemies off the high cliffs of Capri. Emiliano said he tossed his wife as well … “cheaper than getting rid of a wife these days,” he said. Ha!
After lunch Mary and I strolled the streets window-shopping.
Capri has been a high-end resort for centuries so
the shops are decidedly upscale. When we heard that Louis Vuitton was serving champagne with their purses we stopped in. I could care less about owning an LV purse (after all I’d already bought a purse this trip) but Mary is a fan and fell into temptation - a gal after my own heart! Out came the Veuve Clicquot champagne! Whooppee!
We had another scenic cruise
back to Sorrento after our Capri adventure.
In the evening we all met for a short van trip to the outskirts of Sorrento for dinner. We walked through what looked like a rather depressed area and knocked on a door in a wall. Luigi opened the door into a gorgeous atrium garden with loaded lemon trees, cacti and various other plants. We were treated to a family style dinner in their kitchen/dining area designed for such tourist feasts. The food was all from their garden and nearby farm. We were warned that Teresa had been cooking all day and this
was just our first taste of antipasto. There were SO many treats I couldn’t fit them all on my plate and didn’t get to try the cabbage (I’ve never had cabbage cooked Italian style) because that dish never made it down to our end of the table. Nevertheless, we had a delicious and festive dinner and a fine visit with this resourceful and generous
Italian family and their beautiful American daughter-in-law Cindy.
Now here is a romantic tale. When we asked Cindy how she came to marry into this gracious Italian family she told us she’d tagged along with her mother and aunts on a tour and came to this very place for just such a dinner. Teresa’s son took a shine to Cindy and courted her until she agreed to marry him. Yes, it DOES happen, ladies, but probably mostly to beautiful 20-somethings rather than elderly 60-somethings. It was fun hearing her tell of the culture shock moving from California to Sorrento but it is a happy story. We ended our meal with homemade Limoncello and were given the recipe as well. Another delicioso!!
Comments