Thursday 5 June: A cruise around Capri and the Amalfi Coast; and the best seafood ever

Last night it rained briefly. We got up and watched it for a while from our terrace. It was beautiful, the rain falling on the dark sea, and the lights of Naples sprawling across the far side of the bay. In the morning the rain was gone, and it was sunny and clear. Gary and I had a nice breakfast in our hotel, and then caught a cab to the port (I didn’t want to walk all the way up the cliff and then back down again). Today we were going on a cruise around the Sorrentine peninsula, past Capri and Positano, to Amalfi. We had coffee at a caffè on the water, then waited for the Metro di Mare, the cruise shuttle that serves the Bay of Naples.

Our ship was a decent size, and was fairly fast. We boarded with a bunch of other tourists and headed out into the bay. What amazing views! Far off on the other side of the bay we could see the Neapolitan skyline. To our left was the peninsula, and our hotel at the very end of the buildings along the water in Sorrento. Once again Gary and I were amazed by the colors: the deep blue of the sea; the clear, lighter blue of the sky, the pastel buildings of Sorrento, and the many greens of the trees and shrubs that covered the land down to the water. As always, ruling the view was Vesuvius the great, looming over your shoulder every time you turned around.

The water was filled with vessels of all kinds: fishing boats collecting that evening’s dinner, tourist boats and pleasure craft of all kinds, and a couple of enormous cruise ships serviced by a constant stream of shuttles carrying their passengers ashore for the day. As we headed out further, the water turned choppy. Gary stood most of the trip, and took many excellent photos. Check them out at www.flickr.com/danielcmack! My knee didn’t let me balance for long, but I had a great seat in the open top level of the ship. As we headed out to sea, we passed the last reaches of the peninsula, and ahead of us Capri rose from the waves. This island looks like a huge pointed stone that some immense Titan flung out into the water. Its peaks rear up steeply from the waves, and there are beaches around the shore. For thousands of years Capri has been a refuge for the wealthy and powerful. Tiberius, the second Roman emperor, spent his last several years here, ruling the Empire from his villa on Capri because he despised Rome. It is here, in the Villa of the Monsters, that Tiberius indulged in some of the more grotesque behavior imaginable, which he passed on to his heir and successor Caligula (see Suetonius’ Lives of the twelve Caesars if you want the disgusting details: it’s like an ancient Roman Jerry Springer show!).

Out at sea we were completely dazzled. The clear Mediterranean sun sparkled on the water, now blue, now so purple it looked almost black, but always with a shimmering surface reflecting the light. As we passed the island of Capri we could make out the hotels and villas that still dot the island. Rounding the tip of the peninsula, we turned and sped along the southern side of the stretch of land. Here we passed small islands like mini-Capris, more like big rocks sticking out of the sea than islands. Even these had a few buildings on them. A medieval watchtower on one looked like it had been abandoned for ages, while another hosted what looked like a weather or oceanographic outpost.

We were now around the peninsula with the Amalfi Coast on our left. Sheer cliffs dropped down into the Mediterranean, with terraces of pines, palms, and other vegetation. Most amazing, though, were the houses and villages on the steep cliffs. I can’t imagine the roads it must take to reach them! Then ahead we saw that we were approaching Positano. This ancient town is a beautiful riot of brightly-colored houses, churches, and hotels on an immensely steep slope leading right down to the water. Once again, Gary got some great photos for Flickr. In the sky, huge billowing clouds of white and gray began to pile up behind the mountains, while the sky over the sea stayed clear and sunny. The brilliant light reflected off the shining water and the rainbow hues of the town, made even more vivid by the dark green cliffs and towering clouds behind them.

We continued past Positano, and finally arrived at Amalfi. This resort town has long been a favorite of celebrities, and we had a couple of hours to wander the piers and streets lining the shore. As we left our ship, we noticed that, in true Italian fashion, a number of women were sunning themselves topless on the beach. To our amusement, this brought out the cameras and camcorders of several tourists, mostly elderly British men. Gary and I bought drinks (the ubiquitous Coca-Cola Light), sat in the shade, and admired the view. Amalfi stretched above us in tier after tier of houses, hotels, and villas. High up were medieval battlements, towers centuries old. I can’t imagine what it must have been like building up the cliffs back then; it would be incredibly difficult and dangerous even with modern construction equipment. The streets along the shore in Amalfi are lined with shops selling souvenirs, ceramics, and various tasty treats of the region. We wandered the beautiful shoreline until it was time for our return journey.

The trip back to Sorrento was the same as we had taken out, only in reverse. If anything, the photo-ops were even better in this direction because of the light. The clouds over the shore had mostly dispersed, and as the sun headed west, the afternoon light shone on the faces of the cliffs, turning them ochre and orange. We rounded the peninsula, once again skirted Capri, and headed back to Sorrento. Gary and I didn’t want to get off the ship; it had been such fun, with such incredible scenery. Make sure you check out Gary’s pics!

The evening ended with dinner at Il Delfino, a restaurant very near our hotel, and recommended to us by the singing taxi driver. I’m glad we went there, because this ended up being the single best meal of my entire life! Gary had a salad to start, and I had the house antipasto di mare, a marinated combination of octopus, clam, oyster, mussel, sardine, crab, and shrimp, all in a lemon-garlic marinade with hot pepper flakes. As delicious as this was, the second course was even better: risotto alla pescatora, a seafood and rice dish in a spicy tomato broth that may be the single best thing I have ever eaten. Gary’s pasta course was outstanding, homemade ravioli with meat sauce. For his entrée, he ate chicken grilled in herbs and lemon. I had asked for that evening’s best fish, which was sea bass baked in lemon and garlic. The entire fish was cooked and brought whole to me, and the waiter filleted it at the table. Amazing! We finished with lemon and chocolate torts with gelato and shots of limoncello, Sorrento’s famous lemon liqueur. Stuffed, we walked back to the nearby hotel and finished the evening with cocktails and dark chocolate on our terrace, watching night fall over the bay. The moon and distant lights of Naples sparkled off the dark water, and in the distance we could see the silhouette of the great volcano sleeping across the bay.