Day 23, 22 Nov. Napoli, IT

Day 23, 22 Nov. Napoli, IT

This was a short run and we arrived during the night and sat offshore. At sunrise a shower moved over the city and the sun began to poke though the clouds. We backed in alongside the terminal pier port side to the terminal so we had a view of the terminal and southern part of the city. 0720 the ship was secure. The cargo unloaded itself. Our herd went down the ramp at 0845 and were lead by herd master a few hundred feet along the pier to a ferry pier and boarded a jet boat. After a 40 minute (about) scoot along the coast we offloaded at the island of Capri. Pronounce this as “cap'-ra.” This island was a vacation spot of Roman Emperors Caesar, Augustus and Tiberius. It is still a playground of notables though at this time of year they are being seen elsewhere.

Our drover managed to get us up the street and into mini-buses for a hair-raising dash up the mountain switchbacks to Anacapri. The adventuresome boarded the single-seats chairlift for a ride up to the mountaintop for a 360º view of the island and of the mainland and its volcanic peaks. Chairlift was the way back to Anacapri.

Julie on chairlift

The mini-buses resumed the perilous journey and deposited our groups at restaurante Pígna overlooking the Med and enjoyed a fine lunch of local fare and vino. The jolly group next boarded the funicular, humming the appropriate tune, and rode down the mountainside to the waterfront.

Deposited there the group broke up like a pack of cats and wandered off to nose around shops, cafes and absorb the sights and sounds. At the designated time the assembled pack boarded the ferry for a quiet trip back to Napoli and a walk back to the ship. By 1800 we were back aboard. The ship remained at the pier overnight. Our table at dinner provided a fine view of the traffic snarl outside the pier. We had heard there was a long wait for a table at our favorite restaurant ashore so we remained onboard.

Noon report: 40º 50.24N and 014º 15.46'E. Total distance 5,955 nm.