OUR TRIP TO ITALY APRIL 2007 - CAPRI & SORRENTO

The next morning we have to take a boat ride from the pier to the famous Isle of Capri. Capri is an Italian island off the Sorrentine Peninsula. On the south side of the Gulf of Naples, it has been a celebrated beauty spot and resort since the time of the Roman Republic. Overlooking Capri harbor from the rotunda in Villa San Michele.The main features of the island are regularly portrayed on postcards: the Marina Piccola (Small Harbor), the Belvedere of Tragara, which is a high panoramic promenade lined with villas, the limestone masses that stand out of the sea (the Faraglioni), Anacapri, the Blue Grotto (Grotta Azzurra), and the ruins of the Imperial Roman villas.
Capri is in the region of Campania, Province of Naples. The City of Capri is the main centre of population on Capri. It has two adjoining harbours, Marina Piccola and Marina Grande (the main port of the island). The separate commune of Anacapri is located high on the hills to the west.
The name of the island comes from the Italian word for goat.(capricorn for those interested in Astrology)
According to the Greek geographer Strabo, Capri was once part of the mainland. This has been recently confirmed both by geological surveys and archaeological findings.
In the latter half of the 19th century, Capri became a popular resort for European artists, writers and other celebrities such as John Singer Sargent and Frank Hyde. Sargent is best known for his series of portraits featuring the beautiful local model, Rosina Ferrara.
Gracie Fields also had a villa on the island and sang two songs, "The Isle of Capri" and "Come Back to Sorrento" about Capri. Capri is also the setting for "The Lotus Eater", a short-story by Somerset Maugham. In the story, the protagonist from Boston comes to Capri on a holiday and is so enchanted by the place he gives up his job and decides to spend the rest of his life in leisure at Capri.
From Capri we took another boat ride to Sorrento which is also a resort and famous tourist destination with shops selling all sorts of Italian food, wine, liquor, branded goods and souveniers. Sorrento is a small city in Campania, Italy, with some 16,500 inhabitants. It is a popular tourist destination. The town can be reached easily from Naples and Pompeii, as it lies at the south-eastern end of the Circumvesuviana rail line. The town overlooks the bay of Naples, as the key place of the Sorrentine Peninsula, and many viewpoints in the city allow sight of Naples itself (visible across the bay) and Vesuvius. Sorrento is famous for the production of Limoncello, an alcoholic digestif made from lemon rinds, alcohol, water and sugar. Other agricultural production includes citrus fruit, wine, nuts and olives. Wood craftsmanship is also developed.