Capri

After a busy first day of walking about the town of Capri it was time to spread our wings and explore Anacapri. 

We woke refreshed and early from our day before and headed upstairs to the Solarium for breakfast. 

Nothing starts the day like eggs benedict and a cappuccino! Especially since breakfasts in Positano didn’t start with any sort of protein, this was a welcome change. 
Today’s agenda consisted of one thing: beat the rain, ride some vespas and eat at the most prized restaurant in Anacapri, Da Gelsominia. 
So we started heading back to the main square and the busiest intersection on Capri where we found a roundabout and a Rent a Scooter store. After suiting up in helmets and jumping on our yellow steed we were off and up the mountain to Anacapri, dodging rain drops and buses as we went. 

Through winding streets and zooming through town we stopped just on the edge of the village to park our Vespa and explore the new-to-us cobbled streets. 
Our concierge told us about a museum on the island called Villa San Michele where you can see all the way across the Mediterranean to Mount Vesuvius. Boasting beautiful gardens and a cute cafe on the inside the only thing we had was time to explore so we bought our tickets and headed inside. 
A quick tour of the house where Axel Munthe, the Swedish physician who dreamed up this escape lived, showed off the impressive collection of copper cookware and a beautiful collection of hand carved furniture. But it was the courtyards and the gardens I was especially fond of looking at. 

A never ending maze of courtyards interspersed between marble clad walkways led into a beautiful garden still shimmering with that mornings rain.   Finally we had reached the end of the road where a chapel sits on the highest point and looks out below to the town of Capri and if you look hard enough through the mist that was settling in on the Mediterranean you would see Vesuvius.  A beautiful sight we lingered at enough to watch three ferries come in. Reveling in it’s loveliness even on a gray day.  However our stomachs started calling for another adventure so we started to make our way back through the manicured forrest in search of someone who spoke English to help us find De Gelsominia.  As we exited Villa San Michele onto the cobblestone streets we started heading back down to our vespa when my girlish tendencies took over and we stopped to look at shoes.  The Amalfi Coast is known for many things, but most notably known for their custom shoes. Partly made to appease tourists like at Disneyland and partly made in front of people to show how much care and craftmanship goes into creating sandals by hand. 

So after 30 minutes of hemming, hawing and combining different leathers together, I finally created my masterpiece and had them custom fitted to my feet. A wonderful option for those who have wonky feet like I do: not quite wide but not really “regular” feet either. 
I’m happy to say that warmer months are coming up and an opportunity to wear these beauties is looming closely in my future! 

After our shoe stop and gathering as much intel about where we were going for lunch, we headed back up to the Vespa to find this amazing restaurant. 

Everyone we had talked to said that we were going to get lost, we should just let the trolley come pick us up and take us there, even locals got lost finding it, but getting lost is half the adventure, so we decided we were going to attempt it anyway! 

After seriously getting lost (we found a gravel pathway that led to who-knows-where), breaking our Vespa down at a Bed & Breakfast where a wonderful does-not-speak-one-lick-of-English Italian woman and I shared some laughs over her husband starting our Vespa for us, we finally found De Gelsomina tucked away on a walking path with a couple of tourists and locals crammed under the protection of the glass-ceilinged patio. 

Our table boasted quite the view and the waitress came over quickly with water and bread before we begun ordering.  Per usual, we ordered the Calamari (y’all don’t laugh, this is life-changing fried squid!) and started perusing the half English half Italian menu for things we hadn’t tried yet. 
What makes De Gelsomina so special is that everything they make each day depends on the freshness of their garden since they are essentially a farm to table restaurant. They don’t import any sauces, nothing is canned or pre-cooked, it is all made to order by what I imagine is a wonderful Italian grandma individually giving hugs and love to each bowl of pasta she creates. 
My friend got the Ravioli Capri and I got the zucchini and pumpkin spaetzle-looking pasta in some sort of herby creamy sauce. 
IF I could ever have imagined what pasta in Italy was going to be like, this surpassed all expectations. I have yet to have Italian food since returning from Capri and I don’t think I can ever eat another American-Italian dish again after this perfect concoction. I highly debated ordering a second helping, it was that good. 

As we sat there finishing our food, we watched a storm loom closer and closer coming in waves over the Mediterranean via Sorrento across the sea. 

My friend and I laughed to each other as we acknowledged how riding a vespa around today perhaps wasn’t the best idea and we were most likely going to get soaked. 

We waited as long as we could before we decided “it was now or never” and threw on our helmets, jumped on the vespa and boated through the streets to get back to our hotel. 

We walked into La Minerva like lost wet dogs and our concierge immediately brought us some cappuccinos to warm up. 

After a quick bath and a change of clothes, we headed off for the night to indulge in more Italian Eats. 

Lavender Blouse (on sale!) || Cashmere Wrap (c/o) Two Bees Cashmere || Jeans || Tory Burch Flats || Pearls 

Day two of Capri was filled with memories to last a lifetime and some of our favorite stories from our trip spurred from getting lost. 

Although, you really can’t get lost on an Island, it was nice to try. 

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Exploring Capri

 

Dinner Out