Our first night in Piano di Sorrento has been very good. There have been some interesting side-lights. The water in the shower would only get like-warm so we had very refreshing showers. The hotel is really new. We found out that it has been open only since Dec. 2009; so we are the first of what should be many. The second thing we noticed was that the breakfast menu was very spare. There were several cereals, yogurt,warm buns, sweet buns/donuts, jam choice of cappuccino or espresso. What was missing - cheese, eggs of any type, meat, vegetables. For a hotel this nice, it is something they will have to deal with. The staff is excellent and always willing to do the big and little things that make our stay very enjoyable.

Katya a young Italian girl is at the front desk this morning. She speaks excellent English. Gratia ,older and more filled-out is the other lady at the front desk, but her English is much less.

First thing to do is to get the cell phone working so we can phone the hotel or Tonino (man of many tasks). Katya phones Vodaphone and tells of our problem. We have no trouble phoning Tonino but the hotel we cannot seem to get. After several conversations with Vodaphone in Sorrento, we get the cell working. We have to phone long-distance since our provider is in Hungary. Problem solved.

Today we are off to see the Isle of Capri. We have been told that it is a must see. Tonino drives us down to the docks...glad he is driving. He stops at the ticket place and then runs to the dock to see if the boat has left. It hasn't and we get round trip tickets... a slight mistake.

The boat is a jet catamaran. It is packed with people of almost any nationality you can think of. A man is going row to row trying to sell tickets to a tour. I asked an Englishman and he filled me in. We decide to go with this. The price is right-15 euros and an air-conditioned mini-bus. We are given yellow stickers.

After we get to the dock we must go to the area where the mini-buses pick up tourists. There seems to be a major-domo who directs things from his seat in a cabana. Although this takes about 20 minutes, it is less than others. During our wait, the guide relates stories of Capri and its various residents- from the Roman Emperors to the 19th century eccentrics.


First we go to Anacapri, 1000 m up the rock face. This is both a thrilling ride and a scary one. As we go up the distance between vehicles is even less than in Sorrento...just inches. Sometimes there is only enough room for one vehicle. As we go around the scariest cliff bend, the bus driver puts on the most bone-chilling audio with the sounds of a crazy person laughing. Looking straight down 1000m with this music playing is almost terrifying. When we get off the bus, almost everyone heads for the first washroom.

Anacapri is for tourists with shops of every sort - from expensive to cheap. We decide on a beer and pizza. It is quite expensive but we need some refreshment. We wore a little more because it was cool in Piano di Sorrento when we left. However, it was still fine since there always seems to be a little breeze. The picture you see is from the lookout on the cliff. Although I am afraid of heights, my fear is lessening... maybe the bus ride has got rid of some of the fear. After being terrified, this seems easier.

After an hour or so in Anacapri, we are off back down the terrifying cliff; this time we have a quieted driver. We arrive in Capri (above the Port of Capri) and are told what to see by our guide; we have 1 1/2 hours.

We walk down the path to the beautiful gardens near the first Roman port of Capri. There are many expensive boats moored on this side of the island. This is the quieter (no tourist boats) side of the island. There are two large rocks jutting out into the Strait of Salerno. The other side is the Strait of Sorrento or Napoli.

We stop for a lemon slushy; it is refreshing but expensive. The garden is beautiful and very serene; there is a man guarding it from being mistreated. Signs say NOT to eat anything in the garden. Maybe God should have posted the Garden of Eden ! After the garden we head back to the main corso.

We probably do not need all of the time in Capri town since we have seen most of the vendors elsewhere. We did manage to find stamps...the tibacchi shop had them.

We are driven down to the Port of Capri by the same crazy driver we had before. His humour is better respected this time. He always ends his trip with "That's Amore" by Dean Martin.

We wait for our ship and find that we have to wait another 15 minutes because of the shipping line. We met a South African couple, now living in London. They tell us some stories of travel by car.

I phone Tonino from the boat telling him we will be 15 minutes (quincenti minuti) late. Nice to know the cell works.

We are tired from a hectic day and arrive back at the hotel about 7:30 pm just in time for the sunset...which is gorgeous tonight.

We head back to Zia Sams restaurant, but it is cool and I have to get Nancy's shawl. We have a nice primo of flat noodles and fungi 9mushrooms) and shell fish. We nice, but we would like more. We order a secundo of calamari and shrimp (prawn). We split this dish. We did have an excellent half bottle of Chianti Ruffino. We ended with two cappuccinos. IT took a long time to get our bill and I am not so sure it is correct; but we are tired and we head back to the hotel.


We had a beautiful day with lovely weather and a nice dinner. It doesn't get much better.