Napoli and Capri

Naples at sunset

Capri Capri at first sight... walking on the dock to the island

View of Mount Vesuvius from Naples
After a missed flight to Prague, (delayed trains and imaginary airlines- ever heard of Wizzair? Neither has anyone else... ) my roommate Nikki and I decided to make the best out of a bad situation and take a train to Naples from the Rome airport. Just two hours south of Rome lies "Napoli", a beautiful city on the coast, with Mount Vesuvius visible just an island away. After a lot of rainy and cold Perugia weather, it was exciting to finally experience warmth and lots of sunshine. After arriving in late afternoon, we spent the rest of the day walking along the water and watching the sunset. That night, we experienced out first 'dorm-style' hostel room- two girls in our room were from Australia and had been backpacking since November. The others were from England and Belgium.

The next day we hopped on a boat to the island of Capri. Botticelli painted the shore of Capri in "The Birth of Venus"- supposedly, she was born out of the water from a half-shell onto the shore. From first sight, Capri looked like a painting- crystal clear blue/green water, houses built into the mountain side, and the cloudy Mount Vesuvius in the distance. We walked on a long dock to reach the island, then spent an hour or so playing on a deserted beach with our shoes off and jeans rolled up. Although I could have spent all day watching the tide, we decided to explore the island. We took a bus up the winding roads to the city center. Carnevale, a festival like our Mardi Gras, was going on, so all the little kids were dressed up in costumes and throwing confetti everywhere. There was even a giant octopus moon-bounce. We walked around the hilly streets eating gelato and enjoying the nice weather. Later we took a bus to Anacapri, the highest point on the island. We watched the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen, then ate at a restaurant while waiting for our ferry. We also sampled limoncello, a lemon liqueur for which Naples and Capri are famous. It's an after-dinner liqueur served chilled in a small ceramic glass. Beware- it's verryy strong!

Although missing out on Prague was a big letdown, I probably wouldn't have gotten to see beautiful Naples or Capri otherwise. Sometimes things do turn out for the best...