Going Up and Coming Down

On our last full day in Sorrento we debated on whether to head back up the Amalfi coast and visit Ravello (just west of Amalfi) which we hadn’t had time to visit the day before. Some say it is Italy’s most beautiful town. Our other choice was to go back to the Isle of Capri and visit the Anacapri side of the island. We had only explored the Capri Town side of the island. We decided to stay closer to Sorrento and choose to explore a little of Sorrento before taking the boat of to Capri.

I was glad we were going back to the island, I wasn’t sure I was up for the Amalfi drive to reach Ravello. We looked into taking the boat to Amalfi but it didn’t begin it’s seasonal trips until the next day. Plus, one of my favorite parts of the trip was the “Good Walk” in Capri so I was happy to be able to explore the other half of the island.

As we were waiting for the bus to take us up to Anacapri I was reading my Fodor’s Naples, Capri & the Amalfi Coast book when I came across this piece: “One of the most breathtaking bus rides anywhere follows the tortuous road from Capri Town up a dramatic escarpment to sky-swimming Anacapri.” My first thoughts were “Oh, crap, here we go again” (well it may have been stronger words than that). This drive was much scarier than the Amalfi coast drive. The bus was a little yellow bus with approximately 8 seats. As we piled onto the bus all the seats had been taking so we had to stand in the back. As I saw the line of people trying to get on the bus I thought it was too bad they were going to have to wait for the next one. Well, to my surprise they kept piling more and more people on. It was like a clown car, I have no idea how they fit all of into this tiny bus. There had to be over 20 people squeezed in like sardines. The road was narrow, and wound it’s way up the mountain with many, many hairpin turns. Everyone on the bus would lean to the left on the turns as if we were helping the bus not go over the edge (maybe we were). I think what also made it worse than the Amalfi drive is that we were standing so when you looked out the window you did not see any barrier just a sheer drop.

My camera was in my backpack, on the floor, and I was too afraid to offset the balance in the bus by reaching down to grab it. So, I have no photos of the ride up. Instead the photos you see here are of our trip up the Seggiovia (chairlift) to Monte Solaro. Monte Solaro is an impressive limestone formation and the highest point on Capri (1,932 feet). After the bus ride up the chairlift ride was a walk in the park. I actually enjoyed the chairlift ride and had no problems with the heights. Karen founding it a bit daunting. Once you got to the top the view was breathtaking. I think we all experienced a bit of vertigo when we looked down over the edge. The ride down (bottom image, yup those are my feet) allowed us to see how the locals lived and allowed us a peak at their gardens.