Sorrento and Capri - Friday 11 September

It was hot again today so we didn’t rush off after breakfast. Well when you’re on holiday why would you want to rush about? Some did but not us.

The ship docked at Sorrento and we had been advised to go to Capri as it is so pretty, so off we went. The plan was to visit Capri until early afternoon and then come back to Sorrento and have a wander about there before we went back to the boat. Well that was the plan.

Grand Harbour, Capri

As I said it was hot and off we went to get the ferry from Sorrento to Capri. It was quite a fast trip and we docked in Capri Harbour at about 10.30. Well when we got off the ferry we ended up in the most horrendously crowded place I can remember being in for ages and what made it worse was the heat. Crumbs it was scorching. We looked for the so called cog railway up to Capri Town but the place was so crowded we couldn’t see the entrance. The bus stop was crowded as you can see from the photo above, so we decided to take a walk up the road and see what was there.

Now we had only walked a few minutes up the road and I looked down and wished we had brought our bathing costumes. The beach was a tad crowded for me but looked very tempting on such a warm day.

Very tempting!

Heigh Ho! Here's a nice looking little hotel with a fabulous view over the cliffs and beach.

We started to get a bit worried as we were walking because there were no footpaths. It reminded me of a time when we got lost at night in Rome and yes, no footpaths and no street lights either. At least it was broad daylight here but Eric was definitely getting the willies!

Look No Footpaths!

The buses, taxis and cars coming down were not exactly moving very slowly. Yes buses actually came down here. Wondered if there was another way to go up because there certainly wasn't room to pass. Eventually I saw a cut through a street to some steps and we ended up on a footpath going up the back of the town.

After we'd been walking about half an hour this was the view of the very busy little harbour.

This was the view to the other side of the road.

Not sure what this was but it looked like there had been vines there.

Further up there was another wonderful view.

Here's where we went in through what seemed the back gate to Capri Town. Very picturesque.

The place was absolutely beautiful once we got up there but it was a little overcrowded with day trippers.

Lots of very fancy shops with lovely stuff at exorbitant prices!

I really loved this plaque outside a really nice gourmet shop.

This looked like a nice café. It had black and white photos of famous people who had presumably visited it, Rod Stewart, Sylvester Stallone, Liz Hurley etc. Capri is a place where the rich and famous hang out but I bet they don’t come out until after the ferries have left with the day trippers.

We drifted through the lovely little streets window shopping, no need to worry about cars here.

Came across a lovely hotel right in the middle of the shops. Very classy.

Very posh!

Eventually we headed along a nice little street, yes no traffic as it was very narrow.

The houses were on the left of the little path and over on the right were their patios cum gardens.Take a look at this one! What a corking view but no good if you suffer from vertigo.

You’d have to be an exhibitionist to come out here during the day but isn’t it fantastic. Look at that amazing view and get those white settees! Obviously doesn't rain much here.

We passed another lovely little hotel.

Mind you’d have to carry your luggage from the town centre though, no cars along this road. It got me wondering how people who live there manage to get furniture, fridges and washers delivered. They must have something to deliver them. Maybe a little wagon or perhaps they have a special delivery service. A hulking great bloke who can carry anything!

We walked along to the end of the little street and there is an amazing hotel there, Punta Tragara, a salmon coloured building designed by Le Corbusier. The view from the hotel is fantastic overlooking the Faraglioni Rocks and I managed to get a picture before the battery in the camera expired.



Apparently there's a fantastic beach at the bottom of the cliffs. Have to say we just didn't have the energy to climb down and then back up again. I was just about to take a photo of the hotel when the battery finally ran out on my camera. There was a plaque on the wall saying that Roosevelt and Churchill had met here during the war. My goodness that pair certainly knew how to pick the good places to stay didn’t they!
Well we headed back and managed to find the cog railway which took us down to the harbour in a few minutes. That was when it got nasty. It was very hot and there was just no shade in the harbour. I asked a policewoman which pier we needed to go back to Sorrento as I have to say we couldn’t see any information anywhere. Well this was the rudest police officer I have ever met in my life. Must have trained at the Bernard Manning school of charm and elegance! I gathered from what she shouted at me, that somewhere “over there” was an information board. Well we wandered about for a few minutes and eventually found a digital display board. Guess what? It was set in direct sunlight so the information was totally impossible to read.

So we walked along the pier past the ferries to see if we could find the ferry which was due in about an hour. Well health and safety regulations obviously don’t apply in Capri, well probably the whole of Italy. They obviously opt out of all the EU Directives we idiots in the UK go headlong into applying. As we walked past a ferry from Naples the cars and lorries started to pile off and we, along with about 10 other travellers, got stuck against the wall in danger of being crushed. The ferry staff and police did absolutely nothing to get people out of the way or stop more people coming. Just don’t understand why they didn’t block the area off until the ship unloaded. The heat and fumes were appalling.

After about 20 minutes we managed to get past and walked along to the end of the pier but there were no signs anywhere. So we had to brave it back again past the ferries unloading to find an information point. It was absolutely scorching and for some inane reason I hadn’t taken a hat, just suntan cream. Eventually we just asked someone who was working around the harbour and low and behold it was back along at the end of the pier where we had already been.

Finally we joined a very small queue for the Sorrento ferry which grew very rapidly. I started to get a little worried knowing the problems with queues or lack of them aborad. I was right, by the time the ferry started to take passengers on board we got pushed and shoved, eventually I thought I’d go over the edge into the water. What a nightmare. The ferry chappie started shouting at everybody in Italian which most people, including me, wouldn’t have understood. Now if he had just had the good sense to start to let people onto the ferry before the queue got too big it wouldn’t have happened. It’s really one of the things I hate about being abroad, especially in Italy, they just don’t understand the concept of waiting your turn.

By the time we got back my husband was none to keen to look around Sorrento, he’d had enough. Have to say I wasn’t keen either as the ship’s bus had stopped running and we’d have to get a taxi back down to the tender point. So we went back to the ship to relax, cool down and stuff our faces with high tea looking out over the bay. Good choice!

Have to say I'm glad we went to Capri as it was so pretty but not sure I'd go back again unless it was later in the year when there'd be less tourists.

Final Sorrento sunset shot after I'd charged the battery.

Next stop Amalfi!

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