The London tube went on strike the night before, so we had to take a very expensive, beautiful luxury Uber Mercedes 750 E. Could’ve slept in that reclining heated seat as good as anywhere.
Upon arrival in Naples we took the hydrofoil to Capri in the late afternoon. Luckily we were able to take a taxi up the hill and then walk back down a narrow sidewalk just a short way to the Algarogi B&B. Our host Giovanni was waiting for us outside the door when we arrived. After washing and
hanging some clothes outside our balcony, we went for a walk uphill to the main Piazza Umberto. We sat for a drink and enjoyed the people watching. The range of wealth seemed to be extremely wide, with the middle class representing the peasants.
We went for a walk and stumbled upon probably one of the most expensive spots on the island, which had an incredible views, both the amazing smile across the table from me and a view of da love rocks of the fagliniis. The place was aptly named 'The Rooftop'. I ordered an excellent 'That’s Amore' martini drink and Randi had a Chardonnay. We had some calamari and the cost was around 80 euros ...but we did get get peanuts and potato chips at the table.
We finished the night feeling we needed to get back to our roots, like buying a decent bottle of Chardonnay for a reasonable price at the small mart store there just off the main piazza. We also got a street sandwich and quiche and brought it back to Giovanni's entry seating area, just inside his gate. We enjoyed sitting there taking in the quiet, listening to the sea and looking at the stars.
As it turns out I had too much to drink and was hurting the next morning. The breakfast from Giovanni the very professional and accommodating Giovanni was good. He had a couple meats, a couple of cheeses, croissants and some fruit. His main room has a beautiful view of the sea.
He convinced us that we needed to start out with the blue grotto tour today, this morning, as soon as we were done with breakfast. While the sea was calm and the crowds were It was which we did and took a ferry boat. We went around the entire island and when we got to the blue grotto, it was high tide and they said the weight might be up to three hours, so that was scratched. We were glad we didn’t have to wait for three hours to peek into the blue cave.
From there we got on a very crowded bus to Anacapri where we had lunch. The single seat gondola did not look safe for us we took a taxi ride back and enjoyed the open air taxis.
From Capri town, we took a walk down Via Tragala and went to the end for the excellent viewpoint of the Faraglioni. The legend has it that kissing your partner while sailing through the natural arch of the brings good luck and love. Our boat driver suggested French kissing for increased love!
That night we ate at an old family restaurant in Capri town called La Capannina Ristorante. We met a couple from Toronto, Jean François (JF) and Lisa, who did not have have a reservation, so we invited them to join us and changed ours to a table of 4. We had a nice dinner there with them. The food was excellent. We talked about our cabins and Trump and how much we all hated him. JF is a financial advisor and he assured us that everything will be OK.
Amalfi
The next morning we took a ferry to Amalfi. We were just happy Poseidon allowed ferry traffic that morning with a storm approaching. We watched John Franco’s video on WhatsApp to follow the many steps up to our accommodation at Casa Mao. Randi was very impressed by my abilities to take all the steps while carrying our two heavy carryon bags and backpack. This is apparently her love language which I was previously unaware of. We went back down to the Main Street and took down almost to the end. We stopped for a margarita pizza and Caesar salad, that was quite good. Afterwards we had an amazing lemon/limoncello gelato stuffed into a lemon. So good.
We bought a 10è bottle of SantaMargarita Pinot Grigio before taking the stairs back up for a nap…much better without luggage. Afterwards we enjoyed the bottle sitting out on our patio watching a storm roll in to town off the sea.
That night we had a terrific dinner at A’bside. We had seafood pasta and an excellent caprise salad. We had a nightcap in the main square that night, with everyone cheering a young bride and groom as they strolled by with photographers. They had fireworks going off near the port as well. There is a lot money being thrown around in the Italian Rivera.
The next day we were happy to find that the storm had passed and the seas had calmed. John Franco assured us it was good. We took the ferry back to Naples, after making stops in Positano and Caa-pri. We took a cab ride from the port to our hotel. Waze told me it would take 16 minutes but our driver did it in 7 minutes by driving through and almost over wall to wall tourists in the narrowest of streets. We felt we were at our weakest when we arrived at Hotel Bellini. It seemed odd at first but as it turned out very nicely appointed and only half as much as what we paid on the Amalfi Coast.
After a short walk for a small lunch we returned for a quick nap. We went back out in the afternoon for a walk through Piazza Bellini and then down Via dei Tribunali through the Old Quarter to get a feel for the area. We saw the church of Saint Andrew and what look like shrine to the soccer great Madonna in the street. After going back to the hotel to get ready for dinner we enjoyed some really excellent 6è glasses of wine in Hotel Bellini’s atrium…really a beautiful space with nice seating and a high overhead heavy clear plastic web that would catch any rain from coming down into the atrium. I wish I could install this at home above our deck. That night we had dinner in the Old Quarter at a restaurant named Monsú, tucked in a very small alleyway, filled with graffiti. I had an outstanding dish of ravioli stuffed with grouper. Terrific red sauce. Randi had linguine with small octopus in tomato sauce with olives and capers. Everything was great. We even had a young street performer come by to play guitar and sing. She had a good voice and it provided great ambiance. As it turned out we enjoyed our stay there, even though we were wearied travelers.
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