Posted on by Mitch&Katy

Isle of Capri

Buongiorno! Today was an absolutely fantastic day. We awoke reasonably early again and tucked into our free breakfast. We had been in two minds whether to spend the money to go to Capri or to save the money due to our backpackers budget. Our rationale for choosing to go was that we had multiple friends who have been in the past and read multiple reviews online, each and every account of this place state how amazing it is and we figured we can earn more money but may never have the opportunity to go to the Isle of Capri again in our lifetime. We found the cheapest way was to catch the public ferry, it was €38pp which is still quite pricey for a 20min boat ride.

Katy and I gathered our belongings and set off for the port of Sorrento. It was a bit of an effort to walk there using google maps as Sorrento is a maze but eventually we managed to make our way to the main port. We bought tickets to the next ferry and waited in the shade for it to arrive. We sat top deck of course (to take in the views) even though it was about 32 degrees outside. Before the boat left we were both melting in the open sunshine but as soon as the boat started to move we got a nice cool ocean breeze. 💨

The views from the boat were spectacular. On the right we had Mount Vesuvius in the distance with Naples and Pompeii visible, on the left was the Amalfi coastline in all its glory and straight in front you, you could see the rugged landscape of Capri in the distance.

The boat didn’t take too long and before we knew it we were at the main port of Capri.

There is a funicular that runs up the hillside to the main town up the top. The line for the funicular looked to be at least an hours long and google said it was an 18min walk- but we knew it was almost directly upwards.

Nonetheless we decided to make the trek up the hill to save us both time and money. By the time we got to the top we were just as sweaty as you can imagine. In fact, we were so dehydrated and thirsty we paid €3 for a litre bottle of cold water- probably more than the cost of the funicular.

Once at the top we were greeted with the streets and streets of boutique style shops mixed with designer labels and fancy jewellers, along with a lovely view of the north-west of the island.

I immediately thought of all the shopaholics in my family and how they would absolutely love this place. I tried very hard to get gifts for people but as I’m on the boat home writing this I didn’t manage to justify not 1 gift. I found a lovely watch my grandma would love, but the face was very small and it said “Milano” on it and I figured I would’ve liked Capri jewellery as I can get Milano jewellery in Milan later on. Lots of jewellery and handbags etc caught my eye for gifts but they were either too expensive, too large to transport or just weren’t quite suited.

Katy and I had a ball shopping even though neither of us bought anything. The shops were heavily air-conditioned and most of them had a token dog to pat. I even found a nice cardigan for myself that was unique to Capri and would’ve been a great memory but I couldn’t justify €90 for it. Capri seems to take pride in their watch brand “Capri watches” and I thought I would find one of them I liked but the only one I found I liked apart from a Rolex was a Maserati watch and it’s €400 price tag steered me away very quickly. As we had read online, Capri is a heaven for the rich- it housed every designer shop and expensive store you can think of, most of them having special edition lines of clothing made exclusively for Capri. This island and town are incredibly beautiful, all the superlatives in the world don’t do them justice, but I would advise anyone on a budget or without money to spend to think carefully about your visit.

There’s always a way to see a place on your budget and we proved just that today. We couldn’t afford to eat at any of the restaurants but we still had a delicious healthy lunch from the bakery for under €10. We paid the €1 entry to the botanical gardens where we sat for a good 90min reading our books and chillaxing in the shade, this was one of our greatest decisions.

The coastline around the whole island is peppered with boats everywhere, that’s understandable as it’s so popular and looks amazing from the perspective of the water. We essentially walked the entire town of Capri up and down and saw all of the shops and even sampled their lemon slushie (this area of the world is famous for everything lemon).

There is another town called Anacapri a short bus ride away but we didn’t have time to visit that one. From what we have read it is similar but less busy and geographically smaller.

Our boat home was booked for 5:30pm so we had an hour to kill, Katy and I decided we were super hot and sweaty and a quick dip in the ocean would be just what we needed. Luckily we had anticipated this this morning and threw our swimmers into our bag for the day. We made our way down the mountain which was a lot easier than going up and arrived at the only beach on this side of Capri.

Capri is not really known for its beaches. It is famous for things such as “The Blue Grotto” and it’s rugged rough coastline where you can hire boats to steer around the island to see. The beaches are added in parts for convenience of the tourists and there’s no sand- it’s all pebbly rocks but the water is still crystal clear and lovely and warm.

After awkwardly changing in front of some Italian men who weren’t even trying to hide the fact they were looking, we dumped our stuff on the coastline and jumped into the busy blue waters to cool down.

This is yet another place where our European rock shoes came in handy (best. purchase. ever!) We anticipated 30min swim quite well and dried off before walking the 5 min to the pier and find our boat.

After incorrectly walking the entire length of the peer we realised our boat was actually docked at the exact opposite side. Although it seemed very close/just in front of us, it was in fact a long walk all the way around the crescent shaped pier. Luckily we were 20min early, the walk around took us 15min and we safely boarded our much bigger vessel, bound for Sorrento.

The rest of the night is a bit “ditto” to be honest. We had a shower and we’re hungry so headed straight out to dinner. We went to the closest shop as it’s the cheapest we knew and we had lunch here our first day and it was friendly and delicious. After tanning a pizza and a pasta (typical) we strolled home through the warm summers night and packed our bags. Early morning tomorrow so we’re all packed and into bed early.

I certainly enjoy writing these blogs as it enables me to look back and reflect on just how great my day was. I’m trying not to take it all for granted and really soak in the fact that we are on the opposite side of the world, in some of the most amazing picturesque corners of the earth. No need to worry about us fam- we’re having an absolute ball. 🕺🏼

Arrivederci 🚶🏼‍♂️ M

Posted on by Mitch&Katy

Amalfi & Positano- The Main Event 🌊

We were up early for our “Italian breakfast” and I managed to steer away from the Nutella croissants today. Instead, opting for the prosciutto and cheese roll with an orange juice and a coffee. We met our friendly hotel neighbours on the way out, said hello and headed for the bus station.

We opted for an all day ticket as we had planned to catch a few buses and it turned out the best option for us. €10 for an all day ticket that took us to Amalfi, then Positano and afterwards, Positano to home. Our first stop was the town of Amalfi as it was furthest away. It took just under 2 hours and was one of the scariest bus rides of my life. The actual drive itself would not have been as bad if the local drivers had not treated it like an F1 track. At least the drivers in Greece (mainly Santorini) treated their dangerous roads with care, these drivers in Italy have obviously driven them so many times that they are wayyy to confident. For the sharp, blind corners they simply honk their horn to let oncoming traffic know and scream around the corner taking up both lanes of traffic in the hope that if anything was coming in the other direction, they assume the other drivers heard the horn and stopped to let them pass. It didn’t always happen like that though. 🙃 Either way the views were breathtaking so I just tried to focus on that and not think about the 3cm separating me from my death of plummeting into the ocean below. 😱

We arrived in the town of Amalfi after approx 1hr 50min. Our first thoughts were that it was lovely and quaint but there isn’t much substance to it. We were right. After a quick 30min stroll through the old town we had seen it all and we were heading for the beaches. I think possibly the attraction here is “The Amalfi Coast” and not so much the town of Amalfi itself. If I came back the best way would be to stay in Amalfi and hire a scooter so you can drive along the coast and visit all the tucked away beaches and famous swimming stops. I won’t say we were disappointed in Amalfi, we bought a few gifts and enjoyed our time wandering around, we just weren’t aware of its “piccolo” size.

After a short wait we boarded our bus and headed for Positano, back along the same road we we had arrived from, only this time we were on the (right side) side closest to the land which was much more relaxing. Was still a formula 1 race but at least if we crashed it would only be into the cliff face. 😶

We arrived to the top of Positano and we instantly knew how high up we were only meant 1 thing; lots of steps leading down. We were correct!

We painstakingly wound our way down these steep stairs knowing only too well that we would eventually need to go back up. There were a few nice platforms halfway down where we could rest and take in the view.

At least the steps were nice and sturdy. By the time we got to the bottom our legs were aeroplane jelly and we needed a swim. The entire beach was filled with expensive umbrellas. We checked them out and they were €25 each which is crazy. There was a 30m stretch in the middle of the beach for the free section but it was packed. Because I’m a rule breaker and the free section was rammed, we parked our stuff in front of the expensive sunbeds and dove in for a swim where there was much less people. We had learnt in Greece off Stefanos that the Greeks “ask for forgiveness- not for permission” so we went with that ideology. By this point we were very hot and very sweaty, the water was our saviour!

We frolicked around and swam in the ocean until our fingers shrivelled into prunes. The water temp here is very warm so you could easily stay in all day. It was very pleasant for us as our Portugal holiday told us that not all European beaches have warm water, no matter what the air temperature.

We dried off and took a seat in a nearby bar to share a fruit platter and a healthy fruit smoothie. We sat here for awhile and chatted about nothing as we watched the people go by. We utilised their bathroom to get changed into our dry set of clothes and set off to have a look around the shops.

Positano itself is not a big place. Everything you see on the hillside is residence and hotels. Down at sea level there are literally two streets with shops and restaurants. It’s very quaint and had various boutique stores to look through with things from knick knacks to expensive clothes and jewellery. I am looking to buy a new cap as mine is very old and used, I found a nice cap but the €15 price tag warned me off- after all, it’s just a cap. Eventually we had seen everything and made the steep climb back up the mountain to the bus stop. Wasn’t too long before sweaty Mitch was back. I am generally a very sweaty person but if you make me climb about 1000 steps in 32 degrees you can guarantee when I get to the top it looked like I’d just come out of the ocean. Here is a picture I took just for this blog to show how frazzled we were by the time we reached the bus stop at the top of the cliff.

NEVER. AGAIN!

It wasn’t too long to wait till the air conditioned bus arrived. Katy and I jumped on and we were home in 40min. Today was lovely. We had visited two very famous points along an equally famous coastline. We feel we saw everything we wanted to and the experience was a great one to remember for the ages.

Nothing to report after this. The usual Italian food for dinner accompanied with an ice cream before heading to bed fairly early.

Thanks for reading 🤘🏼 M