Sorrento and Capri, Italy

 

May 8th;

The ship anchored just off Sorrento, Italy early this morning.  

Sea side cliffs and buildings built right up to the very edge of the cliffs greeted us as we went ashore on the ship’s tenders. 

      

After a thirty minute ferry ride to Capri, we arrived in the island harbor.  .

      

Our tour included twenty five of us piling into a bus with seating so tight that we were looking forward to a airline coach seat on our return trip home.  In all fairness, the roads would not accommodate “normal” buses.

After a short stop at a shop to get an explanation of how inlaid furniture is made, we walked to the Villa San Michele Museum and gardens.  The museum was a former home of a physician who held the position of Physician to the Swedish Crown.  After the doctor died, he willed the estate to the Swedish government with the proviso that the home and garden be open to the public.  As our tour guide explained, we technically were no longer in Italy while we were in the home or in the gardens, but in Sweden.  The gardens were beautiful but the view from them to the coast of Capri was breathtaking. 

       

The photo below on the left, is from the garden walkway looking out to the Mediterranean Sea; little is visible due to the haze.  The photo at the right is looking over the railing down to the port of Capri.      

               

After lunch we walked across the island to view the other coast line, the Gardens of Augustus and some “low priced” homes.  Low in this case is a relative term…….

       

This view gave us a taste of the beauty and grandeur that attracts visitors to this area.