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| Capri, Italy Copyright Andy Richards 2019 - All Rights Reserved |
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| Funicular Piazza - Capri, Italy Copyright Andy Richards 2019 - All Rights Reserved |
OUR FIRST time in Naples was in 2013. It was a planned stop on our Royal Princess Cruise that was aborted just before that stop because of serious mechanical issues. We had a private driver/tour of the Amalfi Coast scheduled. As a photographer, having done my research, I was really looking forward to that day! As things turned out we instead, limped into Naples at midnight a day late, and our tour operators could not accomodate us the next day on such short notice. However, we did get find a way to get down the coast, hiring a taxi for the day. Perhaps not as good as we had hoped, but nonetheless a memorable experience. Then, in 2017, we made it back (with our good friends, Paul and Linda on the Celebrity Reflection) and got that guided tour. So we had already seen the Amalfi Coast two times. For some (inexplicable) reason, I had never been warm to the whole Pompei thing. So, hearing that Capri was beautiful and a destination for the "rich and famous," we bought a ferry ticket and headed over there.
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| Capri Seaport - Capri, Italy Copyright Andy Richards 2019 - All Rights Reserved |
IN SOME ways, Capri reminded me a bit of Santorini, in the sense that the port was at sea level and the main part of the island was high about the port. You take a funicular up to the main "funicular piazza," which serves as the main center of Capri, housing, among other things, its municipal headquarters.
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| Capri, Italy Copyright Andy Richards 2019 - All Rights Reserved |
FROM THERE, there are many footpaths (there did not appear to be any private vehicles) to different spots. All are beautiful. All are "ritzy." There are hotels and cafes and shops and none of them were the cheap souvenir shops you often see at these kinds of places. It was also tranquil. We spent a nice day walking around, had a nice light lunch at a sidewalk cafe, took a whole bunch of photos, and eventually made our way back to the funicular plaza.
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| Capri, Italy Copyright Andy Richards 2019 - All Rights Reserved |
ONE OF the consistent facets of cruising is that when you land in a port, there is an "all aboard" time that is pretty firm. If you don't make it back to the ship (unless you are on a cruiseline sponsored excursion), they will not wait for you. We have had a couple what felt like to us at the time, "close calls." The first one was one I mentioned with our Celebrity Reflection cruise with Paul and Linda at Malta. This time it was a bit more nerve wracking. It is generally pretty easy to get ferry tickets in these Mediterranean spots. We just walked up and purchased tickets for the trip over to Capri. The tickets were timed, and knowing we had the whole day ashore, and not knowing how long we might want to stay, we did not purchase a return ticket. The boats left for the mainland (Naples) at regular intervals (every 30 minutes or so). We got off the Funicular with 20 - 25 minutes to spare before the next ferry and I got in line to get our tickets. As I reached the front of the line, they put up the sold out sign. We would have to wait 45 minutes or so for the next one. Add the approximately 1 hour ride back to the mainland and we were cutting it awfully close to the all aboard time. Like within minutes. All we could do was wait and hope the next one was on time and there were no delays. As it turned out, things ran on time and we landed and were walking toward our ship with about 10 minutes left. Fortunately, the ship was only about 5 minutes away from the ferry landing. As we walked toward our ship we could see we weren't the only ones in that predicament. Those times have taught us to be a bit more aware of the timing of things that may or may not be within our control. It simply hadn't occured to us that the later ferries would begin to sell out.
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| Capri, Italy Copyright Andy Richards 2019 - All Rights Reserved |
ALL WORKED out in the end and we were back aboard in time to join our newest friends, Rob and Carol for dinner. The next couple days would be relaxing days at sea, with the warm, Mediterranean sunshine keeping us comfortable. Next stop: Mallorca.
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