With the afternoon open, Bill suggested that we take a ferry to Capri and there just so happened to be a ferry going within just a few minutes that we could catch!
The ride took about an hour and offered beautiful views of the bay, Mount Vesuvius, and some other islands. The coastline of Capri itself is really majestic and reminded me a bit of Mallorca. We disembarked and had lunch at a little café on the marina. We had to try the local drink...a gigantic lemon with lemonade and sparking water...it was so refreshing! The weather was absolutely perfect, too...about 75 without a cloud in the sky. It wasn't even windy! The island itself was pretty busy with tourists, but that's to be expected.
From there, we took the gondola up to the saddle of the island. There was a group filming some sort of commercial or something, so they made us stand in the back of the car so we didn't interrupt their shot. The views were amazing though and the air was sweet with the smell of citrus blooms. We then stopped for gelato and walked to the Gardens of Augustus which had some pretty amazing views.
The path leading to the gardens was breathtaking, with epic views, tons of flowers, and pine and palm trees leading the way. I had pretty high expectations, but they were immediately surpassed. It was one of the prettiest places I've ever been.
From there, we went to another scenic spot on the island overlooking Faraglioni.
Brian and Bill opted to sit in the shade and take in the views while I hiked down to the water.
The path leading down to the water was a series of about a dozen switchbacks with both steep grades and steps. It started out in a wooded area with plenty of shade and then slowly became more desert-like with cacti and succulents. As I worked my way downward, the view would peek through the trees and I just kept getting more and more excited to see where I'd end up. I could have stayed down there, exploring all day. It was definitely worth the trek.
That hike down was one of my favorite parts of the entire trip...it was absolutely stunning! I'd imagine that on hot summer day those rocks are teeming with sunbathers. Though I wouldn't mind being one of them, it was really nice to have it all to myself for a few minutes :)
After exploring town a little bit, we took the gondola back down to the marina and took the ferry back to Naples. By that time, it was almost dark. We still had to drive through the mountains to our motel for the night. I'm sure that the views along the way were epic, but it was dark, so we couldn't see. It was just about an hour of crazy switchbacks overlooking the Amalfi coast. We checked into our motel for the night and I took a shower while Brian and Bill had wine and cheese down in the lobby and we slept like rocks that night <3