After breakfast we headed off to catch the 9.35 bus to Amalfi, which surprisingly (after our previous experiences) arrived on time! We were travelling to Amalfi so that we could catch a boat to Capri. We arrived just in time to book the 10.30 boat with a return journey. I was a little dismayed that the return journey was a 17.15 sailing, we had intended on returning at 15.45 so that we could chill out on the hotel balcony, one last time…
When we arrived in Capri we bought a ticket for the funicular and ascended to the town of Capri. We explored the main street, peering in shop windows, whilst looking for a suitable place for lunch. A short way up the street we found the perfect place looking out over the bay. We lingered a while with a glass of wine whilst studying the map that we had been provided when we purchased our ticket for the funicular.
We identified two places in walking distance that looked interesting; a monastery and garden. We decided that we would visit the monastery, Certosa of San Giacomo and made our way there via some delightful back streets. The church in the monastery building had some stunning frescoes. We ventured into parkland behind the monastery, where we were treated to spectacular views over the coast. We were the only people in the parkland and as we looked up we noticed the viewpoint from the garden which we had elected not to visit. That viewpoint was three deep in people!
Unfortunately we had to leave the parkland and monastery because it was about to close for the day. We made our way back to the main square via different back streets which were equally delightful as the ones we had walked along earlier. When we arrived in the square, we found that the Cathedral (Cathedral of Santo Stefano) which had been closed when we first arrived in Capri, was now open. We ventured inside for a quick look before we made our way back to the harbour for the ferry.
It is a beautiful church and, after sitting for quiet reflection, I arose and took in some of the features of the church. For some reason I was drawn into a side passage, at the end of which was a large silver bust in a showcase. I continued into the passageway, which I would describe as showing Christian artifacts. I paused looking into an open room to find a gentleman standing there. He picked up a white garment and for a moment I thought he was looking at me and then I realised that he was holding a fascia and he handed it to a priest that had quite silently arrived behind me.
The gentleman then engaged me in conversation, asking me if I liked the church and where had I come from before politely saying goodbye. I realised that a church service was due to start and as I turned to make my way out of the passageway I noticed that the gentleman that had been speaking to me was carrying an incense thurible into the main body of the church. I left the church quietly, noticing that now there were many people seated quietly ready for the service as tourists were still pouring in through the entrance with their cameras in hand.
We then made our way to the funicular to be sure that we were in time to catch our boat back to Amalfi. It was just as well we chose not to sit in one of the cafe’s before we descended, the queue was rather long and kept being jumped by tour reps and their coach parties. The delay gave us time for only a brief refreshment in one of the cafes next to the quay before it was time to board the boat.
On arrival in Amalfi the bus to Ravello was timely and the views as we rode along were pretty and stunning as the sun was setting. However the drive itself was most alarming! The driver was not looking at the road most of the time. He was far more interested in chatting to two pretty young ladies that were sitting behind and to the right of him. He spent most of the journey with his head turned towards them :-O I was so relieved when the bus arrived in Ravello and I was able to get off and feel safe again.
Back at our hotel Mr C booked us into the Hotel Palumbo for our evening meal and we settled our hotel bill due to our early start at 7.10am the next day. Once again we were able to sit on the terrace with spectacular views over the bay. Our waiter was quite insistent about showing and promoting the house wine, so we went along with it. We found out that the house wine is the hotel’s own wine; they have their own small vineyard. The meal was delicious with little surprise dishes added between courses. The first surprise, we were presented with was a complete baby octopus on a bed of greens…
All too soon it was time to return to our hotel for a quick nightcap before packing to return home the next day. The barman remembered that he had brought a bottle of Prosecco to our room the night before and got chatting to us, telling us about plans for the hotel and also his personal woes. Our early night turned out not to be quite so early as we had hoped!
i enjoyed the record of events, CP. you presented some nice shot. the funicular ride would have been interesting. amusing and at the same time scary, to hear of the driver.
The girl in the seat next to Mr C had her eyes closed!