Capri

Back in San Francisco, here’s my last travel entry on Capri. We spent Monday at Capri and were amazed at its beauty and (unlike anywhere else around here) its pedestrian-friendliness. Here’s the view from the dock as you disembark at Capri.

And here’s a map of the Bay of Naples so you can see where the island is, about 40 minutes south-southwest of the city.

We immediately set out to the northeast corner of the island where the Roman emperor Tiberius held court for 10 years from 26-36 AD in what was then a palace dominating the island and the entire empire. Now it’s another beautiful ruin. We had a picnic in the ruins again and enjoyed peering over the cliff that Tiberius used to throw his enemies.

From there we found the way to the eastern coast in pursuit of the Arco Naturale. It’s a naturally eroded rock formation that’s on the spectacular coast that makes for some great views.

From there we took a path called Via Pizzelungo, which descends hundreds of steps down before beginning to meander westward along the southern coast of Capri. The whole walk is just gorgeous. Here’s one particularly memorable view back north towards the Sorrentine peninsula.

On the way you’re walking on a beautifully maintained flagstone path with countless viewpoints.

Suddenly a strange modernist house appears on a bluff below. It was built by a communist government official and when he died he was so enamored of Maoism, he donated it to the People’s Republic of China which still owns it, though it didn’t look particularly inhabited as we walked above.

As we got nearer to the town, we were at a point where you can see clearly how the island divides between Capri town and Anacapri which is on the other side of this huge mass of rock that Laura is gazing at.

Near here is a huge Le Corbusier designed hotel with spectacular views where Eisenhower made his headquarters during the 1943 invasion of southern Italy. We had a delightful day wandering around, and took the ferry back to share my last Neopolitan dinner with Tiziana Terranova, who I was really happy to meet. I blogged about her book Network Culture a while ago. I was only sorry we didn’t have more time to talk, but it was a small thrill for me in any case.