Capri or Not to Capri...

The ancient Romans knew where all the best places were in the Mediterranean. The Vesuvius area may have been dangerous, but it was extremely fertile. Rome may have been sacked many times, but it was in the center of the ruling land, positioned well to take on any new threats. Capri, an island off of the Amalfi Coast, was one of the Roman's favorite vacation spots, and there is no doubt why. Many emperors were astonished by the beauty of sunrises coming up from behind Vesuvius and sunsets by the neighboring island Ischia. Hearing about it's beauty and royal history, I knew I had to visit.

The island of Capri is still fairly expensive and for the "royalty" of Italy so to speak, but nonetheless it is a favorite of tourists. We hiked Vesuvius in the morning and caught the ferry in the afternoon with a small group of 7. We lucked out and had booked a cheap bungalow for five (hoping to squeeze an extra 2 people in) and were excited to have a relaxing evening and then go boating in the morning.

Excited that by the time we arrived at the island, the sun would be setting, we stopped for a cheap dinner in the harbor. In all honesty, after having the Brandi pizza, this pizza was clearly subpar- but we figured with such a beautiful island, there had to be some faults. to save money we went to a sneery supermarket to pick up snacks and drinks for the night (which for anyone thinking about doing semester at sea- do this! It's great to save money, and grocery stores are always a trip.) Bags of groceries in tow, we headed over to the taxi stand to snag a ride to our hotel bungalow for the evening... only to be told the driver can't take us.

Apparently, our hotel was not on the island of Capri. Extremely confused, since the website said "Capri, Island of Capri" and that it wasn't too far from the city center. We google mapped it, and apparently it was in Sorrento... 17+ miles away, on the mainland... with only one ferry option left, there was no way we were getting to Sorrento. Apparently, we had been scammed out of a hotel.

Without a solid plan of action, and too many snacks and drinks that we couldn't bring back on the ship, we had three hours to kill on a rocky beach near the harbor. Unfortunately it wasn't a clear view of the sunset, but the glimmers of pink and orange and the silhouette of land were still beautiful from where we sat.

So Capri was a bit of a bust. I heard stories of epic boat rides, beautifully clear blue water, and warm mid day swims that certainly made me put Capri at the top of my bucket list to go back to. I guess even though I am lucky to travel the world, I can't see everything. Just means I have to go back.