Sorrento & Capri, Italy

We arrived in Sorrento from Rome by train.  We went through the Naples train station which was a little hectic.  Make sure you know where our train platform is, we had to ask a police officer to help us find our train because there were platforms on all different levels.  Also, be mindful of your belongings, there are plenty of pickpocketing happening all around the station.  

The hotel we stayed at, Hotel Savoia, was recommended to us and we would definitely recommend it to others.  It is a family run hotel located right up the hill from the main town square (less than five minutes).  The hotel was very comfortable and they didn't neglect the opportunity to make us feel right at home with pancakes for breakfast.

Dining was on the left and rooms were on the right

During the day in Sorrento we think the best thing to do is rent a boat and visit the island of Capri. We chartered a private boat to take us around the island all day.  Our captain, Fredericko, came supplied with Diet Cokes and snacks.

The sun was out as we boated to Capri

We started off on to the main land.  Capri is a four square mile island that has beautiful homes, high-end shopping and upscale beach resorts.  If Catalina Island and Aspen were to merge into one place this would be it...only nicer!

Once we arrived at Capri, we took a short ride up the funicular up to the center square.

We explored the town, window shopped at the Rodeo Drive boutiques, and hiked up to the highest point of the island where we could see views of the beautiful blue water below.

After seeing what the island had to offer, we boarded the boat and took a tour around its perimeter-anacapri.  It was so amazing, the scenery looked like Jurassic Park. Jordan kept on commenting on how cool this experience was-definitely mind-blowing.

Beautiful inlets along the islands perimeter 

We saw many the different grottos (small picturesque caves), and swam through the green grotto (not prohibited but we're rule breakers).  The water in the green grotto was clear, and it was a good thing we brought goggles because we could see all of the little fish swimming with us! We took the boat through the Faraglioni, and it is said that if you kiss under it, you are ensured eternal love. Of course we kissed!

Swimming in the green grotto

An eternal love kiss

One of the highlights of Capri is visiting the famous blue grotto.  I wasn't expecting our boat to not  fit into the cave, but once I saw the tiny entrance I knew we had to switch into a row boat.  We barely fit into the cave opening and had to lie down as we entered.  Once inside the lagoon water is an electric blue because of the suns reflection.  We befriended our boat rower and by promising him a nice tip and he let us jump in and swim; it was an awesome experience and we were the only ones in the water.

The boat driver was singing 'O Sole mio

We worked up quite an appetite in Capri and went to the Fontelina Beach Club for lunch.  The club is a private beach club on a secdluded side of the island.  We had our boat drive us right up to the entrance where guests were swimming in the water and tanning on the rocks.

Jordan and I split prosciutto with mellon, and for our main dishes he had an eggplant pasta and I had a pasta with bottarga (a tuna millet). We topped off our lovely lunch with a tiramisu.  Jordan thought this was the best pasta of our trip.

After 7 hours of being tourists we headed back to explore Sorrento by night, it is a great place for active night life with its cafe lined square. We asked the locals where they enjoy eating and found a very nice restaurant where we split a pizza topped with rocket salad, parmesan and carpaccio.  The meal was a success with our last course being a delicious cannoli.  

We had a wonderful time in Sorrento and Capri and love Italy.  In the future we will be coming back to these cities.  Onto the next leg, arrivederci (see ya later)!