Capri - Day 2

We woke up to the sounds of birds chirping. The tranquility continued as we went down to breakfast and discovered (not surprisingly) that we were practically the only ones – one table had just left and another arrived as we were leaving. The breakfast buffet was inside the restaurant, but we chose to sit outside on the large terrace. It was very elegant, and very nice service. It's hard to leave the hotel because the setting is just so magnificent.

Gli Faraglioni from the boat

We had planned to do a hike in Anacapri this morning, but decided instead to rent a boat and circle the island. It was a beautiful, sunny day. The boat experience was really fun. We had our own little motor boat. Josh was the captain; I lounged up front. It's a great way to see the island and all of its amazing geology. We spent 2 hours on the motor boat. We rode through the arch in the Faraglioni, we explored grottoes. It was private, peaceful, relaxing, and the scenery was fantastic.

view of Anacapri from the Migliera road
(note Ischia in distance)

After returning the boat, we went back up the funicular and took the bus to Anacapri. The route took us right along the edge of a cliff -- not for the fainthearted. Once we arrived (about 10 mintues), we walked out of town for about 25 minutes before arriving at Da Gelsomino alla Migliera for lunch. It's a great spot; the food is fresh and delicious, the view is nice, and the staff/owners are friendly. They even make their own wine from the vineyard. Definitely worth the hike to get there. After some tasty antipasti, I had a swordfish and Josh had grilled calamari. Just near the restaurant is a belvedere (viewpoint) looking out over the Northwest corner of the island -- another jaw-dropping view. Instead of retracing our steps back to Anacapri, our server suggested a hike down to the faro (lighthouse) after lunch from which we could catch a bus back to Anacapri. That sounded like a great idea until we saw exactly how far DOWN it was. Not only is it a steep and long descent, but she failed to mention that the "trail" is grown over and not always obvious. Instead of turning back, we felt challenged to make it down. What was described as a pretty, half-hour hike, turned into 50 minutes of pure concentration -- although it was indeed very pretty. Once we got down to the road, we stopped at the first bus stop we found. Had we continued to the lighthouse it would've been another 15 minutes and our knees had had enough. I don't have any problem going up on a hike; but going down is just a killer.

The Hike

We waited for the bus to arrive and took it back to the town of Anacapri where we had to switch for another bus back to Capri. Both were very crowded; they really pack 'em in. But we did get to "enjoy" the harrowing ride! We were tired and glad to be back in Piazzetta Umberto. We headed back to Hotel Luna's pool. It was surprisingly crowded - especially compared to breakfast. Clearly many new arrivals for the holiday weekend. Of course, the water was ice cold. No one could swim. But there was a lot of sunning going on. We retreated to our room where Josh napped and I rested on the terrace.

We enjoyed an antipasto of prosciutto and grissini (breadsticks) on the terrace before dinner. Tonight we were going a bit out of the heart of town to Da Tonino for dinner. On our way, we stopped at Buonecore, our favorite pasticerria/gelateria to pick up desserts for later. We had a long walk to dinner at Da Tonino. It's not a very fancy place, but the food is top notch. I had cozze (mussels) and Josh had a pasta with swordfish. We also loved the local wine from Campagna called Fiano di Avellino - a delicious bianco, DOCG.

We did some more walking after dinner -- although the descents in platforms were tricky. We ate our treats along the way. It took a while for the moon to rise, so we were practically back to our hotel, but once it did it was stupendous. It cast an unbelievably beautiful reflection over the water and Faraglioni. The Faraglioni really make the view from our hotel special.