Italy and Greece: Day 5

Well it was an early wake-up today! We had to be up at 5:45, eating breakfast by 6:45, and ready to go at 7:15. After our last breakfast in Rome, we hopped on the tour bus and made the three-and-a-half-hour journey to Naples (or Napoli as the Italians like to call it). We arrived at the port with just enough time to unload our day bags and make it onto the ferry. Our destination, Capri. Capri is a beautiful island off of the Amalfi Coast with extravagant shops and high priced hotels. It's where the rich go to vacation. In fact, we even had a chance to see Sean Connery's house!

We exited the ferry and took the funicular up into the main square. From there, our guide took us through the upper parts of Capri where we had beautiful views of the lower part of the island and the Mediterranean. The pictures will speak for themselves, but it was breathtaking. We had some free time up in the gardens where we were able to just enjoy the scenery and of course, snap some pictures. After our free time we were given several lunch options at a local restaurant (pizza, pasta, chicken, salad, fish) with a side of ice cream (what else!)

As lunch ended, the next part of our tour began. We made our way back down on the funicular and headed over to the port where we were to board a smaller boat to take us on a tour around the island. The water was an amazing shade of blue and with the island jutting out of it, it was beautiful. The boat stopped off at several caves to give us some history and local information. For example, one of the Emperors of Rome went to the island because he thought others were trying to kill him. In fact, he even had his entire family killed for fear that they would get him first. The caves were amazing, the water was so clear, and the whole island made me want to move to Italy. We finally had to return to the mainland, but were luckily given even more free time. It was decided that we would walk over to the beach and take a dip in the Mediterranean (and by dip I mean put our feet in).

We hung out by the coastline until it was time to go. Then we boarded the ferry and made our way to Sorrento, another city on the Amalfi Coast. The best part about Sorrento is that our hotel was right next to the port! We didn't have to walk very far to check in and drop off our bags. After a quick break, it was time to head into the city. It was still daylight, maybe 5 pm, so there was plenty of time to sightsee and souvenir shop. While the hotel had the perfect location to the port, it was not exactly in the heart of the city. We had to trek up a hill and at least 15 flights of stairs before we finally made it!

Once we were in the city, we heard the most glorious two words: free time. We had two whole hours to roam the city and all of its little shops. There was a main shopping street, so most people started heading in that direction. Sorrento, and the whole region, is famous for lemons. There are lemons everywhere! From soap, to towels, to candy, it is very prevalent. The kids did some souvenir shopping with a quick stop off at the coast for pictures before making their way back to the hotel for dinner. It was another night of pasta and salad, but this time a little chicken or perhaps turkey, I couldn't tell, was thrown in. And I can't forget the lemon cake that tied it all together. Yum! We head to Pompeii tomorrow and then it's a Arrivaderci and Italy and on to Greece. Enjoy the pics!