Capri🩵🩵🩵

Wow Capri did not disappoint. I have heard so much about it over the years and luckily the weather was perfect today to make our trip there for the day. Did I mention the traffic is crazy here on the Amalfi coast? Well it seems everyone was trying to get to Capri today but apparently that’s just how it is all the time May to October with increased crowds in the summer. It took almost an hour to get to Sorrento and then a massive amount of people getting on various boats and ferries to Capri. We had tickets for a hydrofoil which was a bit bumpy but got us there in about 30 minutes. That’s our boat behind Keeley.

Capri is glitzy so normal taxis just won’t do. This is what we rode in from the marina to the town square.

Automobiles, vans, small trucks etc. are only allowed around town and not in the town. Capri is super hilly so lots of stairs and no getting around that. The taxis get you at least part of the way up but then you’re on foot. The square is beautiful and there are many expensive shops and restaurants. Our goal was mainly to hike and see how truly beautiful the island is so we headed up to the Villa Jovis first. One for the amazing view, and two to see the famous ruins from the emperor Tiberius in 26-37 AD. Yesterday we saw the wild horses and today we saw wild goats. Did you know Capri means goat in Italian? Now you do!

The Villa Jovis at this point is mainly ruins, but you can pick out some of the spaces and see original brickwork and mosaic floors.

You can go a bit higher to a church and have a spectacular view of all the boats heading to Capri along with Mt Vesuvius and all the way to Naples.

As we were heading down and to our restaurant for lunch we could see amazing villas with gorgeous manicured gardens, lemon trees and beautiful flowers.

The restaurant was in such a gorgeous setting away from the square which is so crowded, built actually into the rock itself with an outdoor seating literally suspended in the air. And we were sitting at the best possible table for a fantastic view. It was my favorite meal so far of the trip. Eggplant Parmesan first course, roasted chicken with rosemary and potatoes for second coarse and a lemon pie for dessert. Magnificent!

My favorite traveling companion🩷

After lunch we took this challenging hike down more stairs than I could count and through some natural caves that monks lived in for years. If you look closely you can still see some of the drawings inside the caves.

So many stairs in fact that they actually had a defibrillator in case it was needed right on the trail! Thankfully we all did fine.

Everywhere you looked was so beautiful!

You don’t want to miss seeing the three famous rocks that are always in the pictures of Capri. They are called the Faraglioni Rocks and small boats take people through the opening I’m sure for a significant cost.

We ended up heading back to the main square and walking through a street of all designer stores. The Rodeo Drive of Capri.

Also some amazing hotels.

Good bye Capri! We had a fantastic time and it’s definitely worth a trip if you’re on the Amalfi coast.

Tomorrow we do the Path of the Gods. Fingers crossed the weather is pleasant and no rain🤞🏻Thanks for coming along🤗

Monte Faito

Today’s hike was up to Monte Faito where we were planning to hike around the upper trail with fantastic views of Sorrento and Mt Vesuvius. We drove up so many switchbacks and around curves where we were almost hanging off the side of the mountain. The driver did a great job honking his horn before approaching every blind curve as the road was pretty much one lane. So glad to have a driver! The views started out great.

But then some clouds rolled in off the water and our views were like this!

But on the bright side it never rained and the trail was so pretty. Not as rocky as yesterday and I never expected to see huge trees and a forest on the mountains above the coast here.

This area of trees is over 400 years old and big enough for Keeley to get inside. 😊

We hiked up to a church honoring St Michael the Archangel that had this beautiful statue with the two patron saints of the area.

While we didn’t get the views today we did get to see a few of the wild horses that live in the area and I have always been fascinated by wild horses so that was a bonus. They appeared to be bewildered by the clouds as well.

We had a late lunch up on the mountain at The Hotel Sant Angelo that was fantastic. A charcuterie plate for two, bruschetta with the most delicious tomatoes, Rigatoni Alla Genovese (the specialty of the area that we had in Naples that was so delicious) and tiramisu for dessert. Now that’s a lunch!

When we got back to Vico Keeley and I took a walk down to the local beach. Where they have beaches they are quite small compared to what we have in the US, but so pretty to look back at the towns from the water and see them perched what appears to be quite precariously on the cliffs. Oh and it was a mere 250 stone steps to get to the beach! That’s 250 down and then 250 up.

Back at our hotel we had a lovely aperitvo on the patio at our hotel that came with a bowl of these little crackers we see here - kind of like a small breadstick with a much better flavor. We are going to research and find some to bring back with us.

Dinner on our own tonight and after such a big lunch went didn’t want too much. Found this cute restaurant and shared some grilled veggies and a margarita pizza and lemon sorbet for dessert. We learned from our guides that a pizza here is meant for one person and not to be shared. Oops! Half a pizza is the perfect amount for us!

Such a great day. Tomorrow we are off to Capri! Arrivederci🤗

Vico Equense and Sorrento🍋🍋🍋

Just a quick update as we have met up with our hiking group and the trails are calling! The Amalfi coast does not disappoint and we have a nice group of 8 other people and 2 guides to help us navigate the heavy traffic and tricky roads. When time is precious sometimes it’s definitely worth it to pay for the services of the experts and we are finding that to be so true. We are going to get to see a lot but not have to worry about transportation because we aren’t the only ones trying to have memories of this gorgeous area.

Monday was mainly a travel day from Naples. Getting back to the airport to meet the group and get to our first home base in a sweet little town called Vico Equense. Had a chance to explore the town before the meeting covering specifics for the hike and dinner. The views are pretty spectacular!

Our first hike was from Nerano up a rocky trail with beautiful views and down to an organic farm close to the water.

We had a tour of the farm which was so interesting. They have olive trees and produce a delicious oil which we got to sample. It’s challenging to farm on the steep terraces but the quality of the produce is excellent. They have lemon trees and quite a nice selection of other vegetables. Can you see the artichokes on this plant? Also a small beach which we walked down to and got to touch the water for the first time. The Amalfi coast is mostly rocky cliffs and plateaus so beaches are in short supply and typically in nice weather packed.

We had a picnic lunch at the farm and then hiked back up and down to Nerano where our driver met us and took us to Sorrento. We had some time to get a gelato and browse a bit in that pretty but extremely crowded town. It’s not even the busiest season yet so I can’t imagine what it will be like in June! Sorrento has no beach at all - in fact there is only one small spot where you can even get close to the water. But they have figured out a solution. They have built a number of piers out into the water that you can access by purchasing entry for a chair. Ingenuity!

There is an old area in Sorrento as the town itself is over 2000 years old. The streets are very narrow filled with lots of shops selling tons of stuff with lemons on them because it’s what they are known for - amazing delicious lemons. But it was so crowded I didn’t even want to take my phone out so we took a quick walk through and then escaped to a wider less crazy street.

Not my best pictures but I will try to do better. It was overwhelming with the mass amount of people so while I’m happy we got to see a bit of it glad we were staying in a smaller town close by. We headed back to our hotel which is no easy feat with all the traffic on basically one two lane road along the coast linking the towns. Time for a shower and then a great dinner at a restaurant that serves delicious pizza by the meter!

Napoli Day 2🤗

We thankfully both got a decent nights sleep so are on the way to surviving jet lag. The hotel has a nice breakfast and most importantly a magic coffee machine that instantly makes amazing cappuccino’s. I will take two to start! Our agenda for the day was fairly loose so we headed out and toward the largest church in Naples. As I mentioned it seems there is a church on every other block so we figured we should visit at least one and possibly the most important which is the Duomo or cathedral. Built in the 14th century it honors St. Gennaro Naples patron saint and has the necessary relics and vials of blood. It was Sunday morning so there was a mass happening inside but we were still allowed in along the sides and respectfully checked out the beautiful interior. Not nearly as large as the Duomo’s in Florence or Milan but still impressive.

Our next destination was to get to the top of the highest hill for the best view of Naples and the bay. We opted to ride one of the funiculars versus walking up what we discovered walking down later was hundreds of large steps. Riding the funicular was definitely more fun!

The funicular took us up to an area called San Martino. If I lived in Naples that’s where you would find me. A beautiful area with fantastic views and a quieter upscale neighborhood. We saw a darling restaurant called da Fofo Napoli with a small interior and cute outside tables so decided to eat lunch there. Friendly staff and delicious food. We shared a salad with grilled vegetables and plate of Rigatoni alla Genovese which is the signature dish of Naples according to our waiter. Rigatoni pasta in a sauce of onions and beef cooked slowly for at least 8 hours. I’m hoping I can find it somewhere when I get home.

Next we headed the rest of the way up on foot to the very top where you can visit the Castel Saint’ Elmo. It’s a star shaped fortress built in the 16th century. It’s normally 5 Euro to enter but many museums and sites in Italy are free the first Sunday of the month. Bonus! But we both said it is worth 5 Euro for the views alone. A massive structure carved from a rock and then bricks on top to make it even larger.

From the highest area you can see all the way to Capri!

We headed back down and that’s when we encountered the hundreds of stairs. Easier to walk down then up and good practice for the many steps we will be doing on our hike.

Time for a treat! We passed a cute shop selling custom cannolis and decided to try it. Just a small for each of us but so good.

Believe me when I say there are some very narrow streets here!

We passed another shrine on the way down the stairs. I looked closer at this one and it had family pictures inside of it so I suggested to Keeley that when I die she might consider building one for me in her back yard or even the alley. She was noncommittal but at least I planted the seed😂

We walked around the bay and saw the Castel Nuova which now mainly houses government offices. Around the back side of it are restaurants and bars that looked nice.

We headed back toward our hotel and happened to walk by the pizza place we tried to go to the day before that had the two hour wait. Not a huge crowd today so we decided to see if we could get in in a reasonable time. How about 5 minutes? Yes! It is L’Antiga Pizzeria da Michele and if you read Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert it’s where she ate in the book. Lots of pictures of famous people inside eating there. A very simple menu. One size of pizza in three variations and a couple of assorted soda’s. Supposedly where pizza was invented since it dates back to 1870. Fast service and definitely delicious. Keeley and I agreed the pizza was a little better than the previous day but not worth waiting two hours for. Although you can’t beat the price! Just 6 Euros and that is half what the pizza across the street cost.

And then gelato right around the corner!

That was day 2. We walked an impressive 30,000 steps and did a good job covering Naples. While it’s not Rome or Florence Naples is worth a day or two especially if you are heading to the Amalfi coast. Which is where we are heading now! Check back for the next part of our trip. Grazie!

Napoli!

We made it! And thankfully so did our checked bag with our boots and poles. Essential for the hiking we will be doing. I have been so looking forward to this trip. I’ve been to Italy a few times but never south of Rome. This trip is Naples and hiking the Amalfi coast with my favorite girl🩷 After a long day of travel Keeley and I had a fun first day in Naples. As the third largest city in Italy we knew it would be busy but we were still surprised with how crowded the streets are. Think Times Square times two. Granted it was a beautiful Saturday and the majority of people seemed to be fairly local. As per usual I had done quite a bit of research and read Rick Steves book so knew after we landed and got our luggage our best option was to take the Alibus to the main train station where we could easily walk to our hotel. That worked perfectly and our second bit of luck was that we could check into our hotel and get settled a bit before heading out to explore.

Naples is where pizza was invented and we couldn’t wait to sample it. Not hard to find. It is everywhere and all looks delicious. The place we intended to go at noon had what appeared to be 200 people in line to get in so we went right across the street and got a nice table outside immediately and ordered the traditional pizza. Delicious! We may try the other place during the week if it is less crazy but how much better could it be? Keeley waited somewhat patiently for me to snap this picture before diving in.

Then we just started to wander in the direction we had tickets for a later stop at the most famous museum in town. Naples is an old city and in the late 1800’s was the countries wealthiest city. When the capital was moved to Rome their fortunes plummeted but it’s still so historic and is really the Italy America thinks of as far as pizza, spaghetti and the people that immigrated to the US. Here are a few pictures from our walk.

I was hoping to see evidence of the basket system they use here to make deliveries. Success! The building are tall and most have no elevators, so instead of walking up 5 stories they hang baskets off their balconies for food deliveries. Lower the basket with your list and cash and people shop for you and then you hoist the basket back up to your apartment. Like Door Dash but on foot!

So many churches! Seems like every block or two. Also not uncommon to pass these mini shrines.

Made it to the Archeological Museum that was amazing. Much of the collection is from Pompeii. We decided not to take a day and go there for a bunch of reasons so since they brought the best to the museum we figured it was worth a stop.

This is called the Sundial Hall and was my favorite of the museum. So beautiful!

They also had a room with a cool model of Pompeii and a movie of how it looked originally and then at the end Mount Vesuvius blew up. Keeley’s comment was wow that was dark!

More walking down toward the Bay of Naples. We stopped at the beautiful Galleria Umberto I. It opened in 1890 and is so amazing. That’s me with my favorite travel guide from Rick Steves!

We headed back toward our hotel to grab a quick dinner of salad and shared a piece of lasagna. Not really photo worthy but since we were totally on fumes by then adequate. No sleep and walking close to 20,000 steps will do that to you. Oh wait we forgot to eat gelato! Done! We look exhausted! Off to sleep as another day to explore is coming. Thanks for coming along! 🩷