Bobby,
I just want to let you know that I am back. I returned last Monday, having left Rome on Sunday. The weather in Italy was very pleasant with lots of sunshine. In fact, it did not seem to be like autumn at all.
We spent a total of three nights in Rome and the rest in Capri. From Rome, we travelled to Naples by rail (100 minutes approximately) and from Naples to Capri by catamaran. We used Capri as a base, which has regular catamaran services to Naples and other towns along the southern coast. In fact, there are people who live in Capri and work in Naples by commuting via catamaran. The service is apparently free to Capri residents. Everyone else has to pay Euro 14 one-way. Anyway one just walks to the ferry dock, buys a ticket and hops on the next available catamaran.
Whilst at Capri, we visited Naples and the Amalfi coast (Sorrento and Positano), the latter of which is one of the 1,000 places to visit before one passes on. We also visited Herculaneum (Ercolano), which was buried by lava when Vesuvius erupted in AD 79. The town is still being excavated today though progress is impeded by the fact that most of the town is buried under a working-class suburb. The buildings are almost intact except for the upper stories. In fact, corpses have been recovered where people have died in their beds where the town was engulfed first by the ash and then buried. Sadly, these have been removed to spare visitors' sensibilities. We did view a bed with the impression still there. Did you know that the ancients used human urine to dry-clean clothes!
Naples is a beautiful city with Spanish and French influences, given its rule by the Hapsburg and Bourbons before reunification with the rest of Italy. The city is long, clinging along the coast of the Bay of Naples, and Mt Vesuvius, an active volcano, looms in the background. People in Naples are more helpful, friendlier and relaxed than in Rome.
Capri is, well, Capri, the resort for the rich and famous during summer. Everything is expensive there with prices at least 30-50% higher compared to Naples, which is 40 minutes by catamaran away, and Rome for that matter. Still, it is a pleasant little town with hordes of American and German tourists marching through the cobblestone streets during the day. These tourists are mainly day-trippers where the cruise liner docks in either Naples or off Capri for the day and passengers disembark to visit the sights before returning to the ship at dusk.
We ate well, mostly seafood, in Capri. In fact, we did not eat either meat or poultry until our last night there and in Rome. I have to admit I was a little sick of seafood by the time we left Capri. Nonetheless, people in Capri do seafood well where one can taste the sea in the food. Food portions in Italy are large, though we were told that Americans thought they were half to what they were used to. Moreover, the Americans have a habit of dousing their food in either Tabasco or chili sauces. One thing we have learnt in Capri is that one should not dine in an establishment where there are many photographs displayed outside, especially of celebrities dining in the said establishment. The food is generally average and expensive. In fact, two of these establishments were recommended in Frommer's.
In Rome, we dined at one of my favourite restaurants (which I decided so last year when we dined there. In fact Giuseppina used to dine there regularly when she was living in Rome), a little trattoria (the equivalent of bistro) specialising in cuisine from the region of Emiliana-Romagnola (a little above Rome). We also dined at another trattoria that specialised in Roman cuisine, mainly meats, that used to be cater to truck drivers but now to the middle and upper- classes (the area where the trattoria is located has gone up market and the truck drivers have moved further afield). Still, you drink wine by the litre priced at Euro 6.00 while dining on a very substantial meal. I have added this establishment as the place to visit when I am next in Rome. I always prefer trattorias compared to ristorantes: heartier food and larger portions.
Anyway, my tale ends here.
SP
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