{postcards from italy~Bella Capri}

I ventured to the lovely island of Capri today. Contrary to popular pronunciation, Capri is actually pronounced Caaaaaaaaapri (stress on the 'a' with little on the ri-listen here). I had never been before & I have to admit I was a bit reluctant. While one only hears good things of the island, I was loathe to go, primarily because it seemed so touristy, so cliché, and so non-Neapolitan. However, I too fell to the spell of bella Capri. I was pleasantly surprised to wander down an alley, and then another, and then down a covered portico, to find a quaint, quiet, empty, & relatively rustic side of Capri. I realised I took a very different turn than most tourists do, for only upon winding around a few many more bends & alleys, did I stumble on the very busy, very posh Capri that I was more familiar with. But even that Capri is pleasant, if a little upscale. The only thing I'm not too pleased about with Capri is the prices. Everything is overpriced, which is just too bad.
I have plenty of photos that will tell my story of a day on the isola di Capri, much better than my inadequate words. However, before those, let me say that I wandered around this lovely place, then took a bus around hair-pin turns to Anacapri. I meandered around the empty & scorching streets of Anacapri before I headed back to Capri, had a panino & prosecco with a million dollar view, took the funicolare back down to the landing, where I sunned & swam on the beach for the rest of the afternoon. simply divine. (& yes, this was a holiday day for me-I didn't do a lick of work, didn't bring any reading material & just filled my day with little thought except epicurean enjoyment of sights, sounds & tastes.)

{& up, up we go to the town of Capri}

{very quaint little alleys I found }

{more rustic side to Capri}

{yes, perhaps this is paradise!}

{a cloister in an abandoned convent I found}

{absolutely beautiful views!}

{all signs are in tiles on the side of walls--seriously tasteful!}

{lemons EVERYWHERE. seriously  I spotted some of the biggest lemons (these are only 1/4 of the size of some!)}

{a Carthusian profumeria}

{I fell quite in love with this pink building, which appeared to be an abandoned hotel. future home of Dr. Tinza? perhaps!}

{isola di Capri}

{a very cool building in Anacapri}

{centro storico (historic centre) Anacapri}

{hairpin bend on bus}

{my million dollar view at lunch}

{the beach at Marina Grande-there are other beaches on the island. this is the public beach--& full of Neapolitans. I hear to rent a private seat on the other beaches on the island it can start at 30 Euros.}

{Marina Grande-with Capri hugging the hill at the top centre (I was dreaming of cruising with my family here--a tiny bit similar to marinas in the Caribbean we visited as kids)}

{views of Vesuvius on the ferry home. I was lucky to get a ferry with top deck. Some are open air, some not. I prefer the open air ones}