Day 11: 7 July 2010

Got off to an intentional slow start today.  We’ve found that after a jam packed day, we need a little extra sleep and a lazy morning the next day.  Walked around the town of Sorrento en route to the TI.  Sorrento has sort of a resort feel to it.  Lots of tourists (Americans and various EU citizens), tons of shops (specialty boutiques, souvenir shops, and stores that will custom make sandals for you), lots of families and lemon products everywhere. It kinda reminds us of Marbella and the Costa del Sol in Spain due to all the people on holiday, but much nicer.

Decided our best bet was to take a ferry to Capri.  Couldn’t even see the island from Sorrento today due to the haze sitting over the bay.  Don’t know enough about weather but we assume that the haze had something to do with the heat and humidity.  Def. a question for Uncle Rick.  The 30min. ride on the open top deck was great.  Although temps were above 30 today and we were sweating buckets just walking around, the breeze on the ferry was refreshing.

The ferry let us off at Marina Grande near a rocky beach and tons of shops. Didn’t realize that lots of people come here to go swimming in the beautiful aqua water so we didn’t bring a bathing suit. Decided to get an all day bus pass to hop on and off in the towns around the island.  To get to the town of Capri, we had to take a funicular.  The island was a mix of tall hills of rock like Gibraltar, touristy shops boutiques like Nantucket, and small orange buses like the pink ones in Bermuda.  The town of Capri was overrun with tourists and boutiques so we quickly found a bus to the smaller town of Anacapri.  They really pack people into the buses here.  We had zero personal space on the ride uphill.  Talk about a crazy ride.  The roads here are narrow, and mopeds and motorcycles swerved in and out of traffic around us as the bus driver maneuvered around hairpin turns next to sharp dropoffs. 

Anacapri was nicer and quieter than Capri.  Walked around town, watched people take the single person chairlift over the town, and found a beautiful lookout point overlooking the Marina Grande where we arrived. Anacapri was still resorty with expensive hotels and restaurants.  We grabbed the cheapest lunch we could find (pizza, of course!) , then took a bus back to Capri and then down the opposite side of the island to Marina Piccola.  The ride here was probably scarier than the one earlier.  We rode downhill the whole way taking out flowers on the side of the road and barely squeezing by another bus.  There wasn’t much to do at Marina Piccola except swim and eat at the beach bar.  We only stayed long enough for me to put my feet in the water and kill my feet on the rocky beach.

From Capri we took a 40min to Naples.  We were initially disappointed that we couldn’t sit outside, but once our stomachs dropped a few times in the choppy waves on the Bay of Naples, we concluded that riding inside must be for safety reasons.  We arrived at the Port of Naples just after six and stayed about 4hrs…plenty of time.  Naples is the dirtiest and scariest city we’ve ever been to.  There is trash and grafitti everywhere, lots of people zooming around on mopeds that stop for nobody, and people selling stuff everywhere.  Not sure if it was all the warnings we read in guide books, but we were on edge the entire night suspecting everyone as a potential thief.  Within minutes of walking off the boat, we’re pretty sure we almost got jumped by two guys who surrounded us on both sides of the pedestrian path. 

We decided to follow Rick Steves’ walk through town.  It took us past the Royal Palace, and to a few pasticcierias, where we sampled baba (mushroom shaped rum cake) and sfogliatella (fried pastry shaped like a seashell and filled with sweetened ricotta…yum!).  Walked down Spaccanapoli (Losely translated to Middle Napoli) past lots of shops and street vendors (picture Canal Street in NYC minus the Asians, plus African vendors), took a peek at the narrow streets of the Spanish Quarter (like high-rise projects…where people hang their laundry out over the street) and stepped inside the only nice place in Napoli, Church of Gesu Nuovo. 

We ended the night on a high note at Antica Pizzeria da Michele for what Joe says is the best pizza he’s had so far (as it should be since Napoli is the birthplace of pizza!).  The place reminded us of Pizzeria Regina…no frills, long lines, and great pizza.  There are only two types of pizza to order, margherita or marinara, and they are cooked in a wood fired grill in plain sight in the restaurant.  We each ordered the biggest margherita they offer (medium thin crust), and enjoyed every bite!   Another bonus…the entire meal with a was 11.50E!  Afterwards, we grabbed a quick (and cheap) gelato at Polo Nord Gelateria which might have been the best gelato we’ve had so far on the trip.

The walk to the train station was sketchy and confusing.  We eventually found our way to the Circumvesuviana train track that runs from Naples to Sorrento and boarded a graffiti covered train that could definitely rival the Bronx bound trains at home. It was pretty much the most nerve-racking 1hr train ride we’ve ever taken.  We suspected every person that came on and off or sat anywhere near us to be dangerous the whole way.  While we had great, cheap food in Napoli, we were relieved when the train arrived back in Sorrento.