I had reservations about visiting Capri. Would it prove to be a tourist trap or serve up a generous portion of “la dolce vita”?
As both a student of Roman history and as a writer, I wanted to at least taste it. There had to be a reason why the island has lured the rich, famous and powerful since the late Roman Republic.
Those trepidations began to melt away as the ferry approached the harbor. The island with its rock stacks was, as Italians love to say when seeing something enchanting for the first time, bellissimo.
Not so fast.
As I approached the taxi stand after disembarking, there was some loud party music blaring, indecisive tourists lurked about and the guy managing the line was shaking a noisemaker thingy to the beat.
I hung back to see how things played out. The crowd did dissipate. The guy with the noisemaker thingy disappeared, perhaps in the trunk of one of the taxis.
This is where I share that my luggage is a bit heavy. This has elicited the aside more than one or twice that I must have “packed my wife in there.” Italian humor. In my defense, I have had to dress for all the seasons, and that’s frequently within the span of a day.
Just as I thought I got things sorted after boarding a cherry-red convertible, the driver began shouting the name of the hotel I was staying at to any one who cared to listen as we departed. “Is that necessary?” “Yes,” he said.
He then didn’t want to take me all the way to where a member of the hotel staff was meeting me, mumbling some excuse and instructing me it was only a few more meters up the hill. Taxis should take you to your agreed-upon destination and I wasn’t paying until we arrived at said destination.
One thing you should know, tourists come and go, while those who live and work in Capri all know each other and they talk. It’s a small island underneath its outsized glitz and glamour. I knew I was taking a risk complaining, but eventually he caved.
The hotel did indeed know the driver as soon as I blurted out the color of his taxi. “He’s very exuberant,” they said, “but he shouldn’t do that.”
That’s all to say, Capri is both a bit of a tourist trap and paradise all piled up into one.
For every restaurant overcharging for under-heated frozen pre-prepared food, there’s also some of the best cuisine you’ll ever eat. For every, er, exuberant taxi driver, there’s kind people willing to point you in the right direction.
It’s not just any small island. These people have seen it all, playing host to everyone from Roman emperors to Ernest Hemingway to Jackie O. to Leonardo Di’Caprio.
There was a full moon my first night there, so I descended the equivalent of ten Chichen Itzas from where my hotel was perched to have a drink by the sea, fully aware I would have to clamber back up that same path.
That’s another thing you should know, anywhere you go in Italy by foot involves hills. Even boarding a plan for a regional flight will involve a descent and an ascent, and vice versa.
But the way the Faraglioni, a trio of landmark rocks, jutted up darkly from the water and the sea shimmered in the moonlight restored the island’s magic.
For the next day I booked a few hours on a traditional Caprese wooden boat called a gozzo to explore the island by sea away from the crowd.
As I made my way down from my hotel to the port, I passed a sure-footed, silver-haired lady who warbled out a giorno. She immediately sized me up, as I must have appeared a bit lost. “Where are you going?” “To the port.” “Keep going. You’re on the right path. Two minutes!” She turned and plodded on up the hill.
The skipper of the boat was young and astute. After boarding, he said something to the effect of, “South Italy is conservative.” I picked up on what he was putting down, and appreciated the observation.
As he maneuvered the gozzo through the water, the island’s rock formations were stunning to behold. You can also take a pause to explore the Blue Grotto. The skipper advised it was better to go by foot to the cave, rather than waste time better spent on the water. Agreed.
He shared stories about growing up on the island, his father, the nickname his friends in Sorrento call him, which celebrities had stayed where, where such-and-such fashion show was held, which businessman owned the house on an a escarpment of rock above a cave in the form of a howl. “What’s the insurance on a place like that?” The skipper replied if it were him, he wouldn’t have built there.
He also had a gazillion playlists, depending on who was riding the boat that day. For some it’s opera, for others hip hop. “Any Taylor Swift?” No. Instead, for me it was, yes, “Mambo Italiano.” Plus a number of other songs from the likes of Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald. I time warped not to Ancient Rome, but to the 1950s or 1960s, and I was into it? All I needed was a pair of Jackie O. sunglasses and a Rock Hudson to my Doris Day? This skipper dude, he’s good.
The sun was hot. The turquoise water crisp. It was perfect for a swim. I could have floated all day. Indeed, as I day dreamed, my arms and legs spread out over the water’s surface, I was drifting further and further away from the boat. I opened my eyes to see the growing alarm on the skipper’s face. I’m a strong swimmer, so I pulled myself back before it turned into one of those movie scenes where everything is idyllic at first, but then morphs into some horror or another.
The boat ride was one of the highlights of my stay and a must to understand Capri and its relationship to the sea.
As for the geography lesson, the island is divided into four sections. I remember only a little of what the skipper told me. Here’s my version titled “Capri for Dummies,” using my own terminology. There’s the big port crowded by day trippers, there’s the small port where expensive yachts anchor during high season, there’s what I call luxury lane near the main square where all the major fashion labels have a boutique, and then there’s Anacapri, which is further inland.
Anacapri is where you want to go to get away from the hordes, luxury lane and be close to the locals. There’s also a number of charming, relatively affordable boutique hotels. But it’s a schlep. Had I decided to stay longer on the island, I would have headed there, but I had long list of places I wanted to visit in Italy and only so much time.
For my first trip to Capri I wanted easy access to the places I’d be going, such as Roman Emperor Tiberius’ hangout Villa Jovis, the main square and a couple of really good restaurants.
So a hotel near luxury lane, but with some distance from the main port, it was.
There are a couple of inviting, yet affordable, options just outside of high season that I can vouch for, including Hotel La Tosca and Hotel San Felice.
Wherever you decide to stay, you have to do your research, and ensure that what’s advertised reflects the actual condition of the hotel. This is true whether it appears to be a bargain or you’re shelling out a lot of clams, especially in a place like Capri.
If your budget is less constrained, there’s a bevy of luxury joints where you can pay anywhere from several hundred to several thousand dollars per night. There’s plenty of travel guides that list them, so no need to regurgitate.
Like searching for a hotel at a reasonable price, restaurants can also be hit or miss on the island. Luckily I was guided to one of the best eateries I have ever dined at, Pescheria Le Botteghe.
It’s the kind of place you will wish was in your neighborhood. It barely seats more than a dozen people at any given time. It has a curated menu of offerings made from fresh ingredients. Even given the enticing dishes listed, the pasta of the day is usually the way to go. The wine list is good and the desserts even better.
My first visit there I had a mixed pasta with delicate bits of potato in a sauce made from fish broth. It sounds deceptively simple. It was elegant, yet full of flavor and satisfying. I can’t find the words to do it justice.
The second time I went, they whipped up something from scratch that was neither the pasta of the day nor on the menu. It was rigatoni with delicate bits of cod in a sauce made from fresh tomatoes, olive oil and spices. I sopped up the remains with a piece of bread. I wanted to bottle a lifetime’s supply of it and take it back home.
For dessert one of the options is a sponge cake filled with a lemon cream called lemon delight, which again was elegant, yet indulgent. It is one of the best things I have ever put in my mouth.
The restaurant, a former fish market still owned and operated by the same family, alone is worth the visit to Capri.
I asked if they ever considered getting a larger space, but they said if they did, they couldn’t do what they do at the quality they want to do it at. It’s also why the menu is small. Sometimes these notions of how good food gets created gets lost on both those who open restaurants and on diners, but not here.
The other restaurant I recommend in Capri for the food, the views and the incredibly generous waitstaff is Il Geranio. After a bad dining experience at another restaurant, I arrived just as they were closing. They took me in and served delicious food. I can’t think of an establsishment that has ever gone above and beyond to the extent they did to take care of me. It’s a bit off the beaten path, more enmeshed in the island’s greenery, but still close to the main square.
On my second day in Capri I decided to make the trek up to Villa Jovis, where Emperor Tiberius lived the last decade of his life. There’s a paved path that snakes its way from the main square — through a local neighborhood and a park populated by goats — to the ruins atop Monte Tiberio on the edge of a cliff.
Did visitors during the time of Emperor Tiberius’ stay there have the feeling of ascending Mount Olympus to meet Zeus himself? Given its height and views of the Bay of Naples and the Italian coastline, it earned its name Villa Jovis
The third day it rained, but I didn’t mind. It gave me the excuse to hang out at the hotel and write, just as the island has inspired so many others.
In the end, it was bittersweet to leave Capri. I came for the island’s natural beauty and history, but left fully sated with a deep appreciation for the people that live and work there.