Capri and Positano

On one of our remaining days in sun shining paradise, Lauren, Rosa and I hopped a boat to the island of Capri, home of the Caprese salad and a whole lot of flashy money.  Our ferry boat made frequent stops to the various villages on the Amalfi Coast before finally shuttling us across to Capri.

We were met with yachts in a range of sizes upon arrival and after wandering up a steep hill, we found our way to the centre.  It was underwhelming.  I mean the view was delicious but it was covered in tourists--the ones who go in to jewelry shops to show how capable they are of dropping a small fortune on a tiny piece of bling.  In fact, the centre was chock full; we jostled shoulder to shoulder.  Until the cruise ship arrived.  Then it was impossible to ignore the horde of middle-aged American women arguing with waiters who didn't speak their language about how they wanted their Caprese without tomatoes (therefore, not a Caprese salad) and their champagne extra chilled.

the skyward view shows the nice bits of central Capri

We got out, quick, and headed down to one of the beaches, near Marina Piccola (I think). This involved boarding a mini-bus that resembled the Older Person's Centre white minibus including wheelchair lift.  It struggled to navigate winding twists to the ocean but once it did, we were in for a view:

We sweated nicely in the sun and battled the occasional jellyfish before retiring back to our ferry boat for a stop in Positano on the way back to Amalfi.  My machinations of Positano were drawn from the film version of 'Under the Tuscan Sun' where Diane Lane's character has an affair with a dishy Italian man who perpetually wears well fitting linen suits.

Our encounters with Italian men proved this to be fallacy but that didn't stop the town from being pretty charming.  The sun started to go down so we wandered the pedestrian-only cobbles and poked our heads into shops selling ceramics, posh yacht clothing or tourist-type bracelets, earrings and temporary tattoos.  It was cute, really.

view from the top

But at the end of the day, I think we got lucky with our accommodation and positioning in Amalfi.  It was somehow quieter, somehow perfectly sized and as it went, we made friends with the owner of a gelato shop there.  Now there's a good friend to have.