If the first two days showed us the ancient side of Italy, the second two days showed Modern Italy. Perhaps for the first time. After so many trips immersed in the history of the Romans, the Middle Ages, or the Renaissance, it felt nice to explore places built in a time period closer to my birth than Jesus’. Kind of like how I felt when I went to Florence and only wanted non-Italian food. I love history, but a girl needs a break every now and then. And what better place to take a break than a beautiful island?
Day 3 – Capri
Okay, yes. Capri originally became famous as the favorite vacation spot of a few Roman Emperors, but we don’t need to talk about that. Now, it is all modern. Now, Capri is boats and shopping and over-priced restaurants. Its colorful flowers, panoramic views, and crystal clear blue waters.
It’s truly amazing that a landmass so close to Vesuvius could have a completely different feel. If the mountain was cloudy and barren, this island is clear and bursting with life. Just another reminder of Italy’s diversity in its small size. Take a twenty minute ferry ride here and you are in another world. Take a twenty minute car ride in the states and you’re in another neighborhood.
Being a tropical retreat, Capri obviously drew the wealthy of Europe for many years. This shot was taken from the balcony of the private villa of Axel Munthe, the Swedish doctor. How he afforded it beats me. Most of his memoirs write about his philanthropic work in impoverished and war-torn areas, as well as his work to stop violence towards animals.
So how a philanthropic doctor manages to afford and entire Cliffside estate on some of the most desired property in all of Europe is a mystery to me. Maybe he was born with a trust fund already set up? Maybe his mistress funded him (the Queen of Sweden, no big deal)? Maybe he was also the private doctor for the Italian mob and that’s how he was so good at treating people in war zones? Who knows? My bet’s definitely on option three.
Kindly, however, this house was the only place my class had to go to on our tour (really forced us in there). So, as my classmates ventured off to find a nice beach, or a boat as I later found out, I whipped out my trusty itinerary and got to work.
Stop I – Blue Grotto
I think we’ve already established the fact that I could be a professional tour guide if I chose, but sometimes I surprise even myself with how good I am.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is the unedited, raw photo of Capri’s blue grotto. The cave consists of a ballroom sized space filled with water and entered through an opening only two meter’s high. Because of this, light spills across the deep blue water from only one point and seems to illuminate it from within.
Yes, we came at peak time and had to wait close to ninety minutes to get in for a three minute boat right. But, unlike the inside of the Duomo in Florence, this wait was worth it. As a side note, I was also quite happy that I saved up money and bought myself a high-quality, sports action camera. On a rocking dingy, shooting a clear shot of moving water in a dimly lit space is no small task. So I cranked my camera to rapid fire mode and got close to 200 photos in the span of a couple minutes. I waited over an hour and a half and paid 14 euros for this 3 minute boat ride. I deserved a decent picture, gosh dang it, and no one was going to stop me.
Stop 2 – Monte Solaro
Now, at this point this point, the few friends from my class who had followed me to the blue grotto also took off to find a beach and relax. I however, being of the belief that vacations are not for “relaxing” but seeing everything, bought myself a ticket for the chairlift up the mountain. Looking back, I am sad that I didn’t make it to the beach when we were there, but I don’t regret the chairlift.
After close to a month of doing literally everything with my classmates, it felt amazing to have some time just to myself again. What made it better was the fact that the chairlift to the top of the mountain only had one person chairs. That meant that for the 15 minute ride, I was completely and utterly alone in an encompassing sensory experience: the sound of rustling leaves, the taste of the sea breeze, and the feeling of floating through the air combining with sprawling views.
Surprisingly it didn’t set my acrophobia off. The feeling of the chair enclosing me on all four sides made me feel secure, and on the last bit I even opened the security bar in front. My dad, however, would have probably freaked.
I like to think we balance each other out. He can’t handle chairlifts while I find them quite relaxing. And I can’t handle steep hikes or drop-offs while he doesn’t have that much of a problem. I don’t know if phobias can be inherited, but I still blame him for not being able to climb difficult fourteeners in Colorado. Sigh, the one time I really wish I would have taken after mom.
Anyways, the top ended up being relaxing in its own way. As I had ascended towards the end of the day, the tourist rush was over and I had most of the place to myself. Panoramic views combined with an Italian granite (shaved ice covered with limoncello) in a summit café provided just what I needed to wind down from the last three days of hard-core photo taking. Culminating into a happy Christina and some great shots like these:
By the time I got back onto the chairlift to head back down the mountain, practically everyone else had cleared out and I had a horrendous wait of 60 seconds. I also had the good fortune of getting a good seat on the bus back to the main harbor.
You see, in Capri, they believe in a philosophy called jamming as many people as humanly possible into the space of a bus engineered for 15. So thanks to my thrifty self, and the guide-book tips of one Rick Steves, I have the foresight to not get on at the main square, but to make the 5 minute walk to the first bus stop in the town and get on when no one else was around. Next thing I knew, I was on the first bus down the hill and, more importantly, I had a seat. Twas a miracle.
Back at the bottom of the hill, I met up with my group as we jumped onto the last ferry off the island. What a finale. Having made the decision to stand on the open air platform on the back of the boat, I was treated to a view that anyone inside would have missed.
I doubt this picture needs an explanation. All I could do was sit, enjoy the view, and once again praise the lord for my decision to go big or go home for a nice camera. Two unedited masterpieces in the timespan of one day. I was so proud.
All too soon, the sun was gone and we were back in Sorrento for the night. Though, I thought it was rather appropriate. The day before, in the hotel in Paestum, I took a couple top notch pictures of the sunrise. After that, I took pictures of the morning, afternoon, dusk, sunset, and now night pictures, rounding out the last two days into one very picturesque arch.
Day 4 – Casserta
And finally, we reach the last day of the trip. I’ll keep this one short. In Casserta lies the Palace for the Kings of Naples. It was rightly dubbed the Versailles of Italy from its sprawling grounds and imposing structure. Here, the Savoy family lived lavishly and worked to unite the separate city-states of Italy. It was also here that they fell from power after they made the very, very bad decision of buddying up with a certain Adolf Hitler in World War II.
Upon arriving we took some time to explore the inside of the palace and take a closer look at the opulence filled halls. Marble covered the floors and frescoes seemed to adorn the ceiling of every room. In the important rooms, if you didn’t feel intimidated by the sheer size, the extra gold lace on the frescoes helped you along.
What makes the palace really special though, is the gardens housed behind it. Continuing uphill for close to a mile, sprawling groves of trees line a path of fountains. Each fountain of course, had a different theme and sculpture, and the long promenade eventually ended at the English gardens. A private oasis of greenhouses and fishing ponds, topped with a tried and true waterfall.
Twould have been a relaxing last day, if I hadn’t had to wait for everyone to eat lunch before I could get into the gardens with the group ticket. Or if our bus hadn’t left so early. As it was, after taking a bit too much time walking up the hill, a group of my friends and I ended up jogging that 1 mile back down the hill to reach the meeting point in time. And so the last day ended with 19 sweaty, smelly college students crammed back onto a tiny bus, headed for Orvieto
But we were satisfied, sweaty college students. That’s all that matters right?
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