Saturday, August 23, 2014

Explorations of Ana Capri

Being up so late for the wedding was a perfect reason to sleep in on Sunday morning, followed by a mellow day. 


The elevator in the Cesar August was so fun! It felt like a step back in time.

The elevator door and front lobby.

How awesome are these wooden benches? I'd never get up, permanent nap spot!

I laid here most of the day...



My view


After I warmed myself with such horrible views, lunch was had to fuel an afternoon stroll through town. 
I should have stood in front of these doors for size reference, they were probably double the size of a normal door!



These alley ways all have street names as it is given as a person's address.


I felt like such a creeper here, but there were THE cutest little kids playing here, completely engrossed in their activities. Of course the other boy ran off as I was about to snap away.



The art walk was happening through town and the front door of Casa Rosa was open! Turns out it's a museum! 
A retired American man who had been in the war built the building and adorned it in such a quirky, artsy fashion. 

These are recovered statues from a local grotto from hundreds of years ago. Amazing how much detail could still be seen even after so many years under the sea. Imagine rowing into that grotto and seeing such amazing works of art!


Casa Rosa was about three stories with several rooms adorned with art. The stairs ultimately led to the rooftop, providing beautiful 360 degrees views. I heard a woman talking and looked down to see it was a little old woman in her house dress speaking to her cat while gardening away. So stinking cute!
I told you, time machines!!

View of the sea, complete with old lookout towers to the right.

That home up on the hill to the right completely captivated me with it's beautiful purple Bouganvilla.  And seriously, these clouds? {big sigh}

All part of the roof! My heart is in heaven!

Even the floor was pretty! I want to live here.

View of the courtyard descending the stairs.

Courtyard. If I go missing, you will know where I have decided to squat on Capri.
I'll stand real still and just pretend to be a statue. 

View of the Capri harbor and the mainland of Italy from the hotel's cocktail hour.



A little happy hour was had enjoying the views as well as appreciating the flowers.

Another for Nana taken on the art walk en route to dinner. There was a little Italian boy about 4 years old who saw a hand carved giraffe statue and he turned to his mother in awe and said, "giraffe es bellisima, mama!" It was the sweetest thing, from the mouth of a babe!

Walking to dinner at L'Angolo the restaurant next to the church.
I inquired if they had gluten free pasta and the owner, who was the ony waiter as well (& his wife did all the cooking, while his children tended to the needs of the tables), said something about it depended on what the store had. About 3 minutes later he comes from the direction of the piazza with a plate of dried spaghetti noodles, asking if "spaghetti ok?" He had ran to the store for my gluten free pasta! Talk about service! I wasn't even sure if I was wanting pasta that night, but after that I was obligated!










Friday, August 22, 2014

Capri style wedding

Saturday was wedding day! The wedding didn't start until 7, so the day was wide open to explore Anacapri a bit.

But first thing to do was enjoy the rain from the balcony...



This hotel was the most beautiful in so many ways. (Cesar Augustus) Bright, colorful and amazing views. It was originally a homethat provided   retreats for artists, providing much inspiration. 


A leisurely walk to town (only a couple blocks away) had much to offer the eyes!
This is a "road", which we all now know is more of an alley the size of a sidewalk. 


The "road" led to plenty of tourist shops. You can imagine why I took this photo...darling Italian man playing the guitar! 

Grape vines amidst the homes. Look at all that Queen Anne's Lace! Took this just for Nana! 

Capri is known for it's tile painting, this hand painted map was found above a bus stop bench. 

Another map in one of the ceramic shops. The owner painted the day away in the back, so awesome to see his work first hand.



Ummm...can you NOT love this?! 

This was my favorite building on the "road", which was more of a sidewalk through town. Casa Rosa...more on this a little later! 

The isle is like walking through a lemon orchard, which makes it the home of limoncello! 

And the lemons are GINORMOUS!



The "road", heading to the piazza. 

The beautiful church in the piazza. These bells were rung by hand as we passed.

After going in and taking some pictures, I soon realized there was a casket in the front. Whoops! Ran outta there! 


For the funeral...

L'Angolo trattoria immediately left of the church...and more on it later also! 

Street views 


Found on a gorgeous memorial in town. Couldn't not think of my Papa!


Oh the nurseries and flower shops captivate me! 

Dessert case seen on a gelato pit stop before my pre wedding nap.

I have no pictures of the wedding, but I will simply say that Italian weddings are elaborate and wild fun! The entire evening took place at the Capri Palace and rocked AnaCapri until the wee hours of the morning. This granny called it a night, departing at 1am and the dancing had just gotten started! They know how to party! 








Friday, August 15, 2014

Thursdays are for Gluten Free Pizza!

Eeeeeee!!!! You read that right! My inner fat kid wish to have authentic Italian pizza was fulfilled! Before catching the ferry to Capri, the necessary stop was made at Trattoria Emilia for my heaven on a menu.

Two pages! TWO pages of options!! Plus gluten free beer! This can't be real life.

My margarita pizza front and center. By far, the BEST gluten free pizza I have EVER had! 

I ordered the salad out of guilt...after one bite I knew that was a joke.

And to top it off, Trattoria Emilia was on the most darling, yet mysterious properties. I was sure there was a castle back there, but there were plenty of signs prohibiting customers from letting their curiosity be answered. Darn it!

Time to hop back in the car towards Sorrento to catch the ferry. The roads into this little town (of course I can't remember the name now) were the cutest!
Twisty turvy and hugged by never ending rock walls. Be still my heart! My inner post life mason was dying in love. 

Another beautiful cliff side building. 
*note: I did not ride a scooter as I did not have a death wish. One hotel labeled them "devil traps". Scooters and Italian driving are not meant to be paired.

The road to the port. Yep. Mmmmhmmm...it's amazing here! 

Let's talk about crazy...those buildings! Who does that?! Heart attack city! 

View from the ferry.

Evening view of Capri from the square.

Market! My favorite! And yes those are piggy legs back there! 

I think I failed to mention that a big part of this trip was for a wedding on Capri. Yeah, people come all this way to get married. It was no short of a magnificent production. 

Rehearsal dinner was Friday night and it began with a boat ride...
Another crazy Italian idea...let's build this beautiful creation on top of the water. 

The restaurant. The boat was decorated with flowers and loaded with jubilant guests. 

The restaurant. You can see high above, the main road to Ana Capri where the hot was. (Unfortunately not captured here, but was just to the right in this frame.) 

Appetizers at the rehearsal dinner

Sunset from "happy hour"

An apparent Italian tradition is to have local family bands play. This was so fun...and they played for hours! All ages were present, from maybe 4 to probably at least 80's.

One of the wedding traditions is for the groom to play this instrument of some kind by the end of the night. The old man was so kind to demonstrate to anyone who wanted to learn. The skin of the drum is constantly kept wet as the stick is stroked in and out. It has something to do with fertility. 

We didn't start dinner until 11pm, by 1am I was donezo. Boat ride back to Capri, ride up the Venacular (like a cable car) and taxi back to the room where I crashed. 

Wedding tomorrow!