Capri

We arrived on the island of Capri last night by ferry and had a nice dinner with the tour group at the hotel. We are staying at the La Residenza Hotel in Capri Village. Beautiful hotel, amazing flower arrangements in every room.
There are flowers everywhere in Capri, in the hotels, shops, and on the cobblestone streets. Capri is my favorite place so far, granted we are still early in the trip.

Today we started out with a tour of the village of Anacapri from a local tour guide name Dario. His friend Luigi was the tour guide for the other Globus tour group. Dario was a great guide and very funny. Our tour started out with a roller coaster ride on a shuttle bus up the windy mountain side. In Anacapri we visited the house and gardens of Dr. Axel Munthe, a doctor/architect/author/musician who lived on the island most of his life. The house is owned and managed by the Swedish government now. The gardens were filled with lush vines and flowers. It was so peaceful.

Next we were on our way down the cobblestone streets to visit the Church of San Michele. The tile mosaic covering the entire floor of the church portrays Adam and Eve being sent out of the Garden of Eden by the archangel Michael.

Today we also took a cable ride from Anacapri to the top of the island. It took about 12 minutes to get to the top, ~1800' above sea level. We hiked around at the top for a while just enjoying the breeze and staggering views. It was an amazing view of the island from the top, we were able to see the sheer cliffs on one side of the island and Anacapri on the other side. Lots of white birds (seagulls?) flying around the cliffs everywhere.

The entire island of Capri just feels like a different world. Birds circle soar overhead all day and night. The water is deep blue, the cliffs are silvery white, and everything else is brilliant green. I'd love to spend a few weeks here just hiking around the island.