Approaching the dock in Naples
View from the pier, large battlements from long, long ago
It is gritty and dirty and the cars do.not.stop. for pedestrians
Here is the ferry to Capri, 32 Euro per person, round trip. Seemed kind of steep (bad pun), but about 45 minutes and a gorgeous ride. We are up top ( of course) to enjoy the view and the sun.
The terrain should have been a clue!
Signs say "To the Center", I had heard it was a 10 minute walk.
We start walking; we may not be particularly young or terribly fit, but we have very strong legs.
One of many doorways we pass along the way, it's sunny and about 80 by this time.
Lemon trees in abundance. Limoncello( strong lemon liquer) is a favorite here.
Quaint signs along the way to designate addresses. Very charming, but after 7 or 8 minutes of trudging we come to a cross street which leads to more steps...
We finally reach a second cross street and Bob calls it quits. I balk and say it can't be much further. Yeah right! So we continue on a bit further, calves screaming. Then we give in to common sense.
We walk back down the hill/ cliff and buy a ticket for the funicular. We warn people along the way...they don't believe us...they are never seen again ;-(
Here I am at the top, calves are still clenching of their own accord. This is when I remember that my broker, who had been here a couple of weeks before, said it is all designer shops up here. Like a mini, high altitude Rodeo Drive!
A hotel for the Beautiful People, what am I not gorgeous?? I would have loved to sneak a peek at the menu, but I was so far out of my league..
It's not entirely flat, even up here
I need money, so I attempt an ATM here. I ask for English and then for 200Euro, I key in my pin. The ATM pauses, burps and then spits my card out, no money, no receipt, no explanation! We decided that waiting inside the bank was not such a good idea ( after 15 minutes with no movement in the line). Now, to find a bathroom. Let me warn you that public restrooms aka Toilettes in all of the Med, are hit or miss and I mean that quite literally. Sometimes you have to pay, sometimes there is TP and sometimes there are even seats...yeah, you read that right. This was a pay and wait, but had a seat and TP...worth the .50 Euro.
We have about an hour before our ferry leaves, so we settle in for our first Italian Pizza, followed by yummy gelato and this was the view. Pizza, bottled water and gelato $25 Euro (and the pizza was only 7 Euro!), the view PRICELESS!
We checked out the small beach before getting our ferry back to Naples. Yes, we took the funicular back down, in case you were wondering. The plan was to maybe get tickets for the Hop On Hop Off bus once back in Naples, but by the time we walked around a rather seedy area to find an ATM ( remember I didn't get any $$ in Capri), we decided we really didn't want to spend any more time there. Next time we go (and we will go again) we will plan to see Pompeii.
I will leave you with a view of a window, you knew there would be at least one window pic!
Later,
Janet
