Una vacanza caprese: impressions of a short holiday in Capri

 

 

It's evening in Rome. All procedures at the airport are quick. We don't have any luggage this time. On the multi-level parking, where rented cars are issued, there is a covered passage. There are signs everywhere, it is impossible to get lost. While we're in line, we can grab an espresso at the next counter. A sip of pure adrenaline. A little burned to the taste of a specialist. Perfect for an amateur taste. Italian roast. Benvenuti in Italia!

 

We have a little more than two hundred kilometers to the south, bypass Naples, drive along the slope of Vesuvius and get to Sorrento. The navigator should take about two hours. But we will not rush and will definitely stop for a snack at one of the gas stations, where there is a sign AvtoGrill. However, at any gas station there is a large store and cafe where you can have a good snack. There are usually long lines. Even now, tonight. At dusk we pass Naples and Vesuvius.

 

 

 

 

We go to Sorrento in the dark. The streets gradually narrow, we drive somewhere uphill, around only small one-storey houses. Here we should find a small family-run agro-hotel Villa Pane.

 

I have long wanted to stay in an agro-hotel, and imagined fields, a road framed by cypresses, a house and buildings surrounded by sprawling fields and vineyards. It's a little different. The cover letter says that we must drive to a small square, and from it up a narrow street.

 

This area is a little larger than a truck, and the street, no, this is not a street, between the houses can squeeze only a cyclist. But my doubts are dispelled by a small minibus, confidently diving into a dark crevice. We're behind him, steep uphill, from mirrors to walls a few millimeters. Car rental insurance is very useful. Traces on the walls eloquently say that not everyone can compress the dimensions of their cars with the power of thought.

 

But here we are. Villa Pane is a small house with a terrace, located on a slope. Convenient parking. Meet a friendly young man. There are no more than ten rooms. Ours is on the top floor. Violent stairs, cozy corridor with pictures on the walls. It's called Mimosa. Window in the ceiling. There are clouds and stars in the dark sky. It's late and we go to bed right away.

 

 

 

 

Because of the time difference, you wake up very early. It's still dark outside. It starts to shine, and before breakfast we go for a walk. Small houses around. There are several smaller hotels. The gardens have recently blossomed. The fruit is almost all harvested.

 

However, September is still a real summer here. Breakfast is beautiful. Traditional cheeses, sausages, from jam and jam specialties of own production. Orange, lemon, fig and others. Orange - thick, with thin stripes of peel. We have to buy it home when we leave.

 

After breakfast, we get in the car and go to Amalfi.

 

 

 

 

The Amalfi Coast is included in the UNESCO list of cultural heritage. This is one of the most beautiful roads I have ever travelled. Definitely Italy's benchmark. Or is it the Tascana? Or Venice? Or Lake Garda? Isle of Capri? The streets of Naples? Liguria? Sicily?

 

 

 

 

In Italy, it is difficult to choose the best place. There's mountains and sea.

 

The road passes over the sea. There are several tunnels, but almost all the way from Sorrento to Amalfi you can drive and enjoy the beautiful views. I really had to be stuck in traffic. Lots of tourists. Buses stop in pockets on the side of the road so that those who wish can look at the sea and houses on the slopes.

 

 

 

 

When you drive through the narrow Italian streets, it seems that the most difficult thing is to find a place to park. The task really requires a certain skill. But we must understand that almost always somewhere near tourist attractions there is a paid parking. Amalfi has one, too. You just need to drive a little bit from the embankment further towards Atrani, and after the first turn there is a large parking lot inside the mountain.

 

 

 

 

From the parking narrow streets-tunnels you can go to the central square of Amalfi, where the Cathedral of St. Andrew, the main attraction of the town. There are a lot of tourists, places where you can eat too.

 

 

 

 

It is very interesting to walk along narrow streets, gradually moving away from tourist routes. A few turns and there's no one on the street. From the low windows can be heard a quiet conversation of Italian pensioners. Someone's cooking lunch. Laundry is dried on ropes. The cat lays down like a master at the entrance. Another steals silently from the fence. Moped by the wall. Some old bikes. Those who are engaged in the design of fantasies, try very hard to ensure that everything corresponds to and meets the expectations of tourists.

 

 

 

 

The next corner is a small restaurant. It seems to be away from the main streets, but there are many visitors. Traditional Italian dishes: caprese, pizza, pasta.

 

Portions in such places are always large and eat a full-fledged three-course dinner with dessert is unlikely to anyone under the power. But there is a small life hack: it is better to eat a little, but in several places. Caprese first. Elsewhere, a piece of pizza. In the third, you can have spaghetti. One for two. Then dessert. Of course, tiramisu.

 

Ice cream, no options, you need to buy on the street. The cashier punches the check and slowly finishes the red wine from a large glass. It's a special art of putting a huge pile of ice cream on a little horn. It melts instantly and you need to eat it quickly and concentrated, trying not to get your white clothes dirty. Probably won't work. Bella Italia!

 

We returned to Sorrento late at night. We asked for dinner at the villa this morning. Dinner for guests is always prepared on request. And here in no case can not abandon the dishes prepared by the Italian mother. Caprese and ricotta baked zucchini flowers, pasta with eggplant, beef with lemon sauce. In this region, everyone eats with lemons.

 

Another life hack: do not rush. Everything is very tasty, and for a leisurely conversation, overlooking the sea, beyond the island of Capri, the sun, you can happily devote an hour and a half to a meal. It can take longer to produce wine on the farm.

 

 

 

I don’t want to get up so early this morning. But today we have a beautiful Capri.

 

Ships sail from the port at Sorrento. Several flights every hour. Ships are owned by different companies, and each sells tickets at its ticket office. Therefore, if one ticket office does not have a suitable departure time, you can look at the next one. We very wisely decided not to take the car to the island and left it in the parking lot near the port.

 

 

 

 

Our hotel on the island is a minute walk from the pier. We arrived early, so we could not settle down, but everything was registered, took our bags, gave out a map and explained where and what you can see.

 

On the map of Capri marked several dozen different attractions. Different beautiful and old villas. Places that offer beautiful views. Monuments, squares, churches, shops, restaurants and cafes.

 

 

 

 

To the central square you can climb by funicular, taxi or bus. But this is the first time we've been here. A narrow pedestrian street leads us uphill, past a variety of households, completely destroying the idea of Capri as a place of exceptionally luxurious villas. The houses are all different. There are openly abandoned ones. But most of them are neat, cute and well-groomed.

 

 

 

 

From the square in different directions lead narrow streets. Lots of shops and cafes. We are moving on the map towards Krupp Street. There is an old garden (entry on tickets), and an observation deck (also on tickets). From the observation deck offers an impressive view of the famous rocks of Faraglione.

 

A little down the street is a nice bar. A small garden and terrace above the sea. "It's good here," I tell the waiter. "Yes, like in heaven," the girl smiles back. Waiters, sellers, hotel administrators, taxi drivers and cashiers all speak English very well.

 

 

 

 

After lunch we took a short walk through the small streets and returned to the hotel. Our room was ready. And things were waiting inside. We didn't plan on staying in a hotel. And soon we went for a walk again. There was no longer a queue for the funicular, and we took advantage of it.

 

 

 

 

Capri is very cozy tonight. We walked to a huge arch formed by a rock hanging on a slope above the sea. We walked the streets. We saw the house where Maxim Gorky lived for several years, and where Vladimir Ilyich came to visit him.

 

All the streets are small and there is no traffic. For utilities use special narrow machines, or scooters with small booths. Like toy garbage trucks. As in Amalfi, in many places these streets turn into tunnels. In the evening, small lamps light up here and it becomes very cozy.

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner time. In the afternoon we noticed a nice place. The entrance to the restaurant is located in one of the tunnels, and from the hall there is a view of the city and the sea towards the coast, where the lights of Sorrento and Naples are already visible in a narrow strip. But alas. The restaurant has a Michelin star, is in high demand, and therefore all tables are booked. In such cases, you start to complex a little and think that maybe we did not look the right way. Oh, come on.

 

There are no problems with cafes and restaurants in Capri. We walk away literally a couple of steps and we are almost embraced by a fairly large man and offers to go to his institution, it is located almost opposite. La Cistera. It's the opposite of Michelin's pathos. Small room. No windows. On the walls of the photo, in a glass cabinet old things. The light of ordinary lamps. It's a little cramped. And a little awkward. It was like visiting a stranger. We were seated at a large table, next to the cash register, where, as the captain of his ship, the master periodically appeared.

 

And after a few minutes, the feeling of awkwardness disappeared. The menu is quite simple, there is everything you need. Salads, pasta, pizza. The owner is not averse to eating too. He's got roasted zucchini flowers for his snack. He's handing me one. On a napkin. It's delicious. And unusual. In Michelin, such a treat is not on the list of merits for which stars give. Maybe not.

 

Food here is devoid of strained sophistication, pasta - a huge plate of pasta in tomato sauce, pizza - irregular shape with carelessly sketched ingredients, so should be prepared by mom or grandmother. A little in a hurry, but never forgetting the most important thing. And it's really good. You can eat everything only if you remember the above life hack - we are not in a hurry.

 

Dinner is an event for at least an hour. Countdown from the time the plates were placed on the table. The host hospitably receives the company of the British, sits them at a huge table. They study the menu for a long time. Noisy talk, laugh. They ask and finally they choose.

 

On the wall photo - a full man resting on the shore on stones. The bright sun is shining. And the signature of Dolce Vita. You can see that the photo was taken a long time ago. The owner is noticeably younger. It's a picture on the wine label. There's a few more photos in the back of the room. A young soldier with a confident look in beautiful shape. There's a smile on my face. How old is this picture? You don’t know the face, but you know who it is. The host laughs loudly with the English. Music is played from speakers connected to a laptop. “This is an old friend of mine who wrote it down for me. Here's his Facebook profile. Here's mine, if you want to sign. You are Capri residents today. And I, I am a fourteenth generation Capri resident. The light of electric lamps paints everything in sad yellow. It must be dark outside by now. We're fucking tired today.

 

 

 

 

Yes, we're Capri residents. And on Sundays, we ride a boat around the island. Suggestions for that are plenty. But the most interesting in our opinion is where you can take a boat and go on an independent voyage. A small boat with an engine and an hourly fee. You can circle the island around, standing at the helm and make several stops in three hours.

 

Five-minute ship control course, and we leave along the shore. Of course, when you drive a boat by sea, it is one of the most beautiful sensations. At some point you remember what the world looks like on the globe and think that in principle you can swim away from here even to the equator. The sea is warm. You can swim. The main thing is that the anchor is not stuck between the stones. It is also important to properly orient your ship in relation to the waves. Or keep things in a special drawer, otherwise everything will flood with salt water. When we return, we make a promise to do it again someday, and to swim to the equator.

 

 

 

Capri has two cities. The first, where all tourist ships arrive, is called Capri. The second, on the west side, is Anacapri, which translates as Ne Capri. You can see once – then the locals had a dispute about which of them is more a resident of Capri.

 

 

It's very peaceful now. You can get to Anacapri by bus or cab - convertible. If you wear white pants, wait for pink. There aren't many, but there are.

 

From the central square of Anacapri on a chair lift you can climb to the highest point of the island. There used to be someone's villa. And judging by the dried-up pool not too long ago. Now tourists are accepted here. In a small cafe you can drink coffee and beer. Sit on cozy sofas in the company of other tourists. The views, of course, are wonderful, both from the top and from the lift chair. Theoretically, you can climb the mountain on foot.

 

 

 

 

In the evening, we made another attempt to get into a Michelin restaurant. We arrived early and made reservations. Successful this time. The version that yesterday we were not allowed because of the shorts remained conscious. God be with her. If you want a star, you have to introduce and enforce standards and rules.

 

The taste of food from the restaurant is not in my memory. It was pretty cool. Great, great. Administrator with a charming stretched smile, and a well-arranged pronunciation. Extremely careful movements of waiters, every time correcting your fork, you just need to move it at least a millimeter to the side. Rehearsed for a hundred times the names of dishes. Interesting but not unusual combinations of products. Beautiful wine. I really didn't remember the label. No stories. No pictures on the walls. Strict calculation, justified expectations, no surprises and surprises.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have one more night in Rome. But we'll stop at Naples on the way. To eat pizza. Naples is full of beautiful and rather old pizzerias.

 

In my opinion, this is some kind of ridiculous, if not stupid, story about the fact that all tourists in the last few years line up only in one, from a Hollywood movie. Either the producers owed the locals and at the expense of the debt removed advertising for the institution in the cinema, or other machinations of the world behind the scenes. But it wasn't fair.

 

 

 

 

All the other pizzerias in the city are no worse. Same simple, same old and with the same delicious pizza. That’s what the movie was about, if I remember correctly. Go into any one and eat slowly. And Naples has a cool subway.

 

 

 

 

We arrive in Rome almost at night. We have some time to walk in the morning. Just a couple of hours. Our hotel is downtown, just minutes to the Trevi Fountain. Right next to Venice Square, Pantheon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lots of narrow streets and beautiful buildings. But even the narrowest street in Rome doesn't make it feel like a province. The eternal city is felt in every stone.

 

Text and photos: Maxim Baskov