Journal 4

Today we are off to Capri! We took the hotel shuttle bus to the Naples port to catch one of the boats for the 45 minute ride across the Mediterranean to the tiny island. On the bus ride in we met two couples. The first couple was from Australia, and were on a month long vacation in Italy and then on to Greece. They were going to catch the train to Rome for the day. The second couple was on their way into the center of town for some shopping. They were from Virginia, and were just beginning a three-year stay in Naples. She worked for the government at the military base and he was a stay home husband. He joked that his job was to find the perfect place to rent, and also to check out the cool places to take the wife to when she got off work. Both Stacey and the other husband raised their eyebrows and looked at us with this look of whatever! I have taken the boat over to Capri twice before, and after having to use the handy little "bag" on my first trip I learned to take my dramamine prior to departure. It was smooth sailing this time and Stacey stood outside with me on the back deck so we could get the fresh air...just in case! It was nice looking back at Naples fading in the distance as we got farther out. To our right, was Mt. Vesuvius that sits just off the coast. Every time I see it I have to put my finger up on the right side of the mountain and trace what would have been the line up to where the top of the mountain should be, and down the left side of the mountain to connect the line to the other side. A guide showed us how to do it on my first trip to Pompeii and it still amazes me to see how much was blown off when it erupted in 79 AD. We took a gondola ride up to the main town and set out to check on hotels for a possible overnighter later on in the summer. Shopping on Capri has been compaired to shopping on Rodeo Drive. Every designer name you can think of has a little shop here. But I was really looking for the one or two shops I have heard of that make the hand made sandals before your eyes. We saw a beautiful hotel with a second floor balcony that overlooked one of the main streets and ate lunch there. We ordered pasta and both were great, but Stacey's gnoccho (potato dumpling) was the best! As I have learned to say, delizioso. After lunch we walked back through the hotel lobby to the pool area! It was amazing! In-between the hotel and pool area was another eating area that was totally shaded with a canopy of lemon trees. They had hundreds of large lemons hanging from every tree over the entire area! Beyond that was the pool. It sat higher up on a five foot terrace. But the side wall that was between the pool and the canopy eating area was made of thick plexiglass, and you could see into the side of the pool. It would be a very nice place to stay...someday. On to look for the sandal man and more sites. We made our way to an overlook area taking pictures along the way of cascading flowers along walls, in huge planter, and growing in what seemed like hundreds of yard of overhead canopies of buglavari and wisteria flowers. The overlook was spectacular!! Took lots of pictures of the famous coastline and of the many boats floating off the coast. The boats ranged from LARGE yachts, to tiny rowboats. The water was crystal clear and the rocks on the bottom were as clear as if there were no water at all. We checked out one more hotel with what has to be one of the best views on the island and headed back to catch the 3:00 o' clock ferry back to Naples. While Stacey went to get tickets for the ferry, I went to buy some water for the ride back and the cash register just happened to by next to the Gelato, so I thought, "Why not?" I got two dips so I could share with Stacey. But, he took to long buying the tickets and it was melting, so I had to eat the whole thing by myself. Stacey did remember to ask me a couple of hours later, "Hey, did I see you over there eating some Gelato when I was buying the tickets?" I informed him that I had to eat his share because it was melting on my hands and I didn't want to be sticky. He gave me a half smile and said, "Thanks for thinking of me." I did give him the water I had purchased. The ride back was great. We got to sit on top of the ferry, along with the rest of the Japanese that seem to be the majority. Two older women sat a foot across from us and sitting straight up, SLEPT LIKE BABIES THE ENTIRE WAY BACK! They had their purses and bags strapped tighly around their necks, through their arms and around their legs, so nothing would disappear while they were dozing. I had to sneak a quick picture of them. They were really cute. When we got back to Naples, the hotel bus picked us up, then made another stop outside the train station to pick up anyone else needing a ride back. I noticed a begger working the entire street the whole 15 minutes we sat there. He had no problem walking up to cars and sticking his hands inside for a handout. I would watch him scope out prospective easy targets. Everyone who was pulling a suitcase, meaning a tourist with money, was approached. Anyone stuck in traffice with their window rolled down, or people unlocking their cars and loading up children or packages. The thing that bothered me the most was he was dressed in very nice clean clothes, which didn't appear to be old or hurt. He was also puffing on cigarettes the entire time. There are beggers everywhere in Naples, but I think this guy makes a good living working that corner. Back at the hotel, we decided to stay in our room after our workout and just ordered up a sandwich. We watched the USA and Italy soccer match on TV. Whenever the Italian team would score or do something good we could hear someone blow a very loud horn out their hotel doorway. After the match, which ended in a tie, Stacey being the competitor that he is, promptly walked to the sliding glass door, and yelled out as loud as he could, "Why don't you blow your horn now?!!" I was mortifiied and told him to shut the door, close the drape, and hope that nobody knows who yelled that because we won't be leaving here alive tomorrow! He just laughed and said, "Let 'em play us in baseball next!" He went to bed proud as a peacock to be an American that night.