Under the Capri Sun

CAPRI - Italy - It may seem strange to some people, but my absolute number one destination in Italy that I have had for some time was Capri. They call it the Blue Island, and it’s about an hour away from Naples by ferry. There’s an old legend that it belonged to the second Roman emperor Tiberius, who held sex slaves captive on the island. Despite its creepy heritage, I had always wanted to see Capri. You haven’t seen blue water until you’ve seen Capri.

It was quite the journey, getting there from Naples. The ferry cost us €17,50, and I could tell as I boarded behind a fleet of Louis Vuitton trunks and suitcases that it was elite vacation spot, more Italians than foreigners. I was definitely under-dressed from the occasion.

The island is very much a playground for the yachting community. When we arrived, I could see all of the boats anchored around the island. A lot of money sits on that water.


We stayed at Il Girasole in Anacapri, which is a slight distance from the island’s main square. The rooms were nothing to rave about, which has more to do with European standards than with the actual hotel. The hotel, however, sits on top of a hill, and when we arrived, we were delighted to find a view of the Capri sunset.

The buses run all day all over the island. Upon our arrival, I threw my iPod, a beach towel and a bottle of water into my Trader Joe’s canvas bag and we took a bus to the nearest beach in Anacapri.

Faro, a rock beach 10 minutes away buy bus, was gorgeous. I was nearly blinded by the sparkling reflection of the sun on the water. After a round of Pina Coladas with my friends, I ventured into the water very carefully. There were a number of hazardous places on the rocks, and it was hard to judge the depth of the water by sight. Kids jumped off of cliffs and even dove from the edges of surrounding rocks in to the water. Such a thing would never fly in the U.S., but then again, neither would my Eurotrash swim trunks.

Welcome to paradise.