Giorno quarto (lunedi 15 febbraio)
8 AM wake-up call to a drizzly day. We walked down the many, many stone steps to the harbor, where we meet our local guide Luciana. We have a 20-minute ferry ride to Capri; although some students' stomachs didn't appreciate the choppy waters, I thought it was great fun, with large waves making the whole trip feel like an aquatic roller coaster. We disembarked and took two small shuttle buses from the harbor up to the town of Capri itself. Everything in Capri is small, as you might expect of a town built into the side of a mountain: small streets, mini ambulance, even a golf-cart sized UPS truck. Luciana told us many fascinating historical facts about Capri, from its prehistoric connection to the mainland to its illustrious first VIP visitor, Caesar Augustus, to its role during WWII as Mussolini's residence. Fascinating fact: until the 1970s, Capri had no source of fresh water other than what was brought over by boat from the mainland! It does today, after the Italian government built an underwater aqueduct to the island.
More fascinating facts: the island of Capri has two towns: Capri and Anacapri (yes, from the Greek ana meaning “up”), the little village higher up on the island, and connected to the town of Capri by a single winding road - previously connected, through most of its history, only by a set of 881 steps built by the Phoenicians. Capri was considered the premiere vacation spot for wealthy Romans during the Empire. The 5-star hotel in modern Capri, called Qui Si Sana Hotel, was originally built as a hospital, hence the name: qui si sana means “here one gets better.”
We began our walking tour of the town of Capri in the Piazzetta, the Piazzo di Umberto I. We wandered through delightful neighborhoods with gorgeous gardens, walls, stairs, and ocean views, until reaching the area overlooking the ancient port of Capri, with its gigantic natural rock formation that used to serve as the island's lighthouse. From there, we headed across the island to Augustus' gardens, now a public park. On the way back, we passed a 13th-century Carpathian monastery, now used as the island's high school. Lunch was at a lovely little restaurant where we were served homemade ravioli or pizza. This is where my chair suddenly broke (ask your kids when we get back...).
Tomorrow is a travel day - bus travel for much of the day to the Straits of Messina, where we'll take another ferry (not to worry, we've brought Dramamine!) across to Sicily. I don't know for sure that our hotels on Sicily will have internet access, but I'll update the blog again if they do! I leave you with some pictures from today's adventures on Capri...
The long, long stairs down from Sorrento to the harbor.
Yes, this is what Capri looks like all over!
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