Capri

Day 4
In the morning we caught a boat to the island of Capri which is just off the coast of Naples. I was worried about getting seasick so we sat in the bottom and couldn't really see anything. The boat was really expensive, 17 euros each, one way. Yikes. I don't even want to do the math on that one. And we think Washington ferries are getting expensive...

We walked around the main part of town for a while, along with hoards of tourists. Everything was beautiful, and there were tons of expensive designer stores.

We had read about a restaurant that was supposed to be good & off the beaten path a little. We found the signs for it and followed them off the main road, down the hillside via some little alleyways. Unfortunately neither of us had a watch and when we arrived they told us it was only 11:30 - whoops. But they were super nice and gave us the best table with a gorgeous view and we just relaxed and perused the menu till noon when they opened.
The meal was the best we had had so far - an antipasti platter with grilled veggies & marinated fish, homemade ravioli with lemon sauce and pasta with tomato, eggplant, and mozzarella. The whole place was so cute, I couldn't stop taking pictures.

Entrance

Entrance off the alley/pathway with handsome guy in the doorway

After lunch we hiked down to the beach to swim. We bought a souvenir "capri" beach towel and used the free beach because the pay beaches that came with chairs & umbrellas were 14 euros per person for the day. ($50 to lay on the beach. ouch.)

The beach was packed, but the water felt wonderful and we had a nice relaxing time. From there, we took a bus to Anacapri, the other small town on the Island. We had no idea what we were in for, but I snapped this shot as we wound up the switchbacks towards the top of the Island.
At one point, I looked out the side of the bus and about two feet away, the road dropped away to a cliff hundreds of feet straight down. Later in the evening we took this picture where you can see that the road is basically carved out of the sheer cliff.
Anacapri itself wasn't that exciting, but we enjoyed the bus ride. We caught our boat back to Naples at 7pm after enjoying an early evening gelato snack.

The boat ride home was fun, we sat on top, had beautiful views and got to see the sunset. The crowd was fun too, lots of happy Italian tourists who had obviously had a wonderful time on Capri. You can see Capri in the distance behind the boat. (picture above)
Happy Italian Tourists

When we arrived back in Naples, we were going to go try a pizza place (Sorbillos) that was supposed to be "number one in Naples" according to both our guidebook and the guy at our B&B. But the place was completely packed (at 9:45pm) with crowds waiting outside. It was still packed when we walked home after dinner at 11:45.

Plan B - we went to a home style trattoria a few doors down. They had really reasonable prices, so we ordered a bunch of things to try. After we ordered I noticed everyone in the place (italians) was eating seafood, which we hadn't ordered any of. So, feeling brave, I called the waiter over and pointed to a plate of seafood someone had on their table, a mixed seafood salad.

When it arrived, I realized that 50% of the seafood was chopped up octopus legs. umm.....whoops. Definitely a new one for me. I love calamari, but I try to avoid the legs when we order it and generally just force down a couple so that Kyle doesn't complain. Unfortunately I had picked the dish and kyle told me I had to eat it. Let's just say octopus legs are like calamari surrounded by a jelly/rubbery covering that really had no taste, just an odd texture. They were about the thickness of a hotdog. I am proud to say that I ate a reasonable amount and there were only a couple pieces left when the waiter took our plate. They were almost yummy if you ignored the texture.

The other highlight of the meal was my eggplant parmesan I ordered as a side dish. I am craving more already, it was so delicious. They took those skinny long eggplants, sliced them very thin, and then layered them in a baking dish. My guess is that there was a ton of olive oil or something poured over top, then cheese & it was baked till the eggplant turned thick and carmelly. mmmmm......