A Prolonged Foray to Europe: Capri

From Herculaneum (and Naples), we originally had planned to head next to Sorento on the Amalfi Coast, and then to Positano. A couple we met in Botswana on safari in 2018, who’s travel style is almost identical to ours, and who we keep in touch with, advised against this. They travel in Italy at least twice a year, and had a lot of insight into the Amalfi Coast, in particular. As far as Sorento went, they found this to be devoid of charm and recommended instead that we spend a few days just opposite that town, on the island of Capri. So we cancelled our Sorento reservations (this discussion occurred during our planning phase) and found a cool place on Capri instead, which is where we headed next. (We’ll cover the Positano issue in the next post.)

Our only experience with Sorento came from our parking and the ferry dock to Capri, since both took place there. Parking was a trip for one of us and deeply traumatic for the other. After careening down a series of urban switchbacks from the center of Sorento down towards the dock and passing a couple of parking lots on the way (that we sped on past because we had no idea how much further ahead the ferry dock actually was, and we had luggage), we passed a portal leading to a cave in the face of the high cliff that abutted the road we were on. In the cave resided a few piggyback car lifts – a garage! Of sorts. But from the cave portal, we could actually see the ferry dock down a hill. Perfect! Thought one of us. WTF?!? Responded the other when the first suggested we just park there. But park we did – kind of.

The WolfeStreetDriver left the car in neutral (it was a stick), got out, and ran over to talk to the cave people. But he didn’t turn the car off or apply the parking break. As a result, the rental car – with the WolfeStreetPassenger still in it, began to drift down the steep decline straight to the ferry dock and, uh, the ocean. This almost led to a coronary by the passenger at the time and definitely created some residual PTSD that remains to this day. The driver remedied the situation before the car drifted too far, and we successfully dropped the car off at the car cave and arranged to pick it up a few days later, when we thought we’d be back. Then strolled like 50 yards down to the ferry dock and caught the next ferry, which, conveniently, departed in just 20 minutes.

A view of the dock area on Capri. A little misleading, considering how mountainous the rest of Capri is.

To wit, a view from the Gardens of Augustus on the edge of Capri Town:

Now THAT’s a switchback:

A fine competitor to our recent driving experience in Mallorca, which one day we’ll post about, expanding on that trip overview.

Iconic views from the gardens:

Pretty good start to our stay!

A nice hike from town to a historical location that we wanted to make sure we checked out: Villa Jovis.

Super cool entrance to a villa on the hike there:

Pretty great views along the way:

Another villa’s atmospheric entrance:

And THE villa! Villa Jovis, accessible only by foot:

Villa Jovis (what remains) holds the distinction as the largest of the 12 villas Roman Emperor Tiberius built on Capri.

Completed in 27 AD, Tiberius spent the last 10 years of his reign ruling from here, away from the bustle – and potential danger – of Rome.

“Apparently, the main motivations for Tiberius’s move from Rome to Capri were his wariness of the political maneuvering in Rome and a lingering fear of assassination. The villa is situated at a very secluded spot on the island and Tiberius’s quarters in the north and east of the palatial villa were particularly difficult to reach and heavily guarded.” (From here.)

Roman engineering still holding up:

The original structure of the villa, which dates to Caesar Augustus, Tiberius’ predecessor, was restructured to meet the requirements of Tiberius when he chose the island as his headquarters from 27 AD to his death in 37 AD.

Villa Jovis continued to serve as the Imperial residence until the 2nd century AD. Subsequent modifications made in the middle ages. The villa was explored during Bourbon rule in the 19th century and excavated systematically by an Italian archeologist between 1932 and 1935.

The villa is located atop Mount Tiberio, the second-highest peak of Capri after Monte Solaro (which we’ll get to, to be sure):

Pretty great views back to other areas of Capri:

The remains of Villa Jovis’ watchtower (specula) from which messages would be exchanged with the mainland by fire or smoke:

Views still pretty good on the hike back:

Pretty nice walk into town. One regret is not taking pictures while enjoying aperitivos from Capri Town’s piazetta, where we’d hang out each late afternoon people watching. Pretty great, frankly.

Also, classic Amalfi coast pool setting at our place:

Pre-aperitivo aperitivos at our place before heading to Capri Town’s piazzetta for the main event.

The next day, a hike to the other side of the island and Anacapri.

Little shrine on the way:

It was a hike, man.

But worth it.

Views on the way back to the ferry port:

This was our objective: the chair lift to the top of Monte Solaro.

But the whole mountain was fogged in, so there’s not much to see on the trip up.

So we kept hiking all the way to the top, instead.

Still socked in:

But at least the trail was marked.

And out of the mist? Goats!

Definitely added some character to the hike.

A sign that we were nearing the peak:

Finally, a great view from the top of the tallest mountain on Capri!

Or, as it unsurprisingly turned out, a replay of our hike’s apex on Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh: zero visibility.

But after we quaffed a couple of macchiatos, the fog had burned off, so we grabbed the chairlift for a much more relaxing (and shorter) trip back down: