Scottish blood
Anything but in fact. I can see why it’s been so popular with everyone from Roman emperors to the modern day elite. The jet boat crossing wasn’t the warmest or driest, and some people seemed to cope with the climatic conditions better than others!
Once we got there though the weather picked up, in fact it was just as we got there really that it did. Maybe that could be something to do with coming to land from being out in the open sea. Well, maybe.
Capri town harbourfront
You can’t deny that the Capri harbourfront is pretty as you pull in. It’s a busy little port too. All day there is a constant tooing and froing of jet ferries and smaller private craft. The ferries are impressive in the ease with which the crew manoeuvre them. They will pull in, drop an anchor, pivot around this point to face stern on to the mooring, drop their second anchor and then slide in, inch-perfect.
No fear
We took the funicular up to the top of the town from the port. This puts you basically on the spine ridge of the eastern portion of the island, a ridge that seems to split the town in two. On the northern side, where the ferries all come in, seems to be for the common man. The tourist attractions and clientelle are all the sort of folks an everyday chap can relate to. As you head over to the south side, the shops rapidly shift up market and the town takes on a definite air of exclusivity. We didn’t go much further. Mainly though that was because it was time for lunch, and there seemed to be precious little other than up market boutiques.
Ready for my close-up Mr. deMille
Winding our way by touch through the alleys and paths took us up towards the top of the ridge with the hope that we might get a nice view from the top. The views on the way were nice enough. The buildings and vegitation are all quite beautiful, and being a car (and moped!!!) free island makes for a pleasant and relaxing wander.
Capri south
We certainly weren’t disappointed when we got to the top, happening on a vantage point that overlooked most of the south side of the town. I don’t know what the courtyard and grounds are (though Google can no doubt tell me) but they do look well worth a visit if we ever go back. There are some pretty sporting routes down to the shore too. Not sporting for the well off hotel guests, no doubt being ferried down in a golf cart. No, sporting for the people that risked life and limb to put them there.
What I don’t have a photo of is the large section of limestone pinnacle right next to the viewpoint that had clear desires to go for a trundle. This seems to be at odds with the desires of the municipality and, presumably, those who live and work beneath said pinnacle. The result is a significnat quantitiy of stainless steel stakes, clamps and assorted knitting to represt the rocks clearly expressed desires.
I can’t help but think this is a typical example of the, ultimately futile, approach taken by humanity. Surely the best thing to do would be to manage the decay in some relatively graceful fashion. You can’t really expect to follow the logical alternative conclusion, surely, which would be to knit the entire island in a chain mail coat. Still mankind has a long and entrenched track record in such Canutean undertakings.
Look Mum, we’re in Capri!