30 Hours in Capri

When the idea of “Capri” runs through my head, I immediately think of Beverly Hills 2.0: Beyonce, Jay Z, Mariah Carey, and Leonardo Dicaprio sailing around the island on their million-dollar yachts and everyone walking around like they own half of Spain. So, when my parents told me that we were going to the Isle of Capri as one of the places we were stopping on our vacation to Italy, I was absolutely shocked. My parents are not people to go to a place like that; they don’t like materialistic items and hate people who are. The Isle of Capri, or mainly just known as Capri, is a small island off of the Amalfi Coast in Italy. It is pretty much known for its panoramic views of the Bay of Naples, rocky beaches with turquoise waters, fine dining, and lots and lots of designer shopping.

My family and I did a group tour of northern Italy. Therefore, our days were jam-packed to visit every possible major location in the region. On the morning we arrived, we were coming from a brunch on a farm in Sorrento-- we took the ferry to the island around 1pm. To be quite honest, I did not know what to expect coming to the island, but I did know that every location has exceeded beyond my expectations of what to expect of Italy. Therefore, I was very excited because I did know this was my most anticipated location we were going to visit. It was approximately a 30-minute ferry ride over to the island. I had my phone ready to take some Instagramable pictures (I mean come on, when in Italy, you gotta show it off). Finally, the captain said we could get out of our seats and go look at the island. I was the first to jump out of my seat and run to the back of the boat, adrenaline rushing through me. I immediately put my camera away, just to admire the view; it was hands down the most beautiful view I have ever seen. Most of the buildings were painted white, all jammed together on a rocky mountain side. There were massive rocks that surrounded island with the biggest yachts I have ever seen attached to them. I was in complete and utter awe. We got off the boat around ten minutes later to complete chaos: tourists everywhere, taxi drivers swerving on the wrong side of the road (driving in Italy is completely a story of its own), vendors trying to sell you cheap clothing, and waiters running around to their tables outside. The ‘ground’ level of the island sort of reminded me of Edgartown on Martha’s Vineyard. It was very quaint and beachy. We did not have much time to look around that area when our tour guide called us all over to go up on the train to the top of the island. We waited for about five minutes sitting in a dark area that reminded me of one of the New York City subway stations. Our group eventually got on the train that slowly took us up to the top.If you are scared of heights, I might not recommend taking the train because it feels like you are going up vertically, but rather I recommend taking a taxi up. Thank god I am not afraid of heights because that train ride had one of the most beautiful views I have experienced. Obviously the Amalfi Coast already gets a lot of hype for incredible views, but no picture can really explain how magnificent it was to see in person. Seeing how the light blue waters brought out the white on the buildings and the greenery surrounding the island was surreal.

Immediately walking around the top of the island I felt like I was on a completely different planet than the ground area; I felt like I was in a magazine for Town and Country. This was exactly what I pictured Capri to be like before coming to the island, basically every woman looked like Donatella Versace and every man looked like Donald Trump: white, rich, and better than you. I would say my family does have some good clothes, but we prefer to go the comfier route; and given the fact there was a massive heat wave hitting Europe the exact two weeks we were there, a lot of days we rolled up in gym outfits and big sunglasses. We could not look more American, and many Italians did not like that, especially the people on this island. I have never in my life received more disappointing looks from woman (who have contoured their faces so poorly from plastic surgery that it honestly more looked like they were constipated) and men about my outfit choice. My family and I walked shamelessly to our hotel room to put down our luggage, changed into white dresses and shirts, and walked to dinner. None of these people actually live here though, they are vacationers just like my family. It is pretty hard finding locals on the island due to the fact that there are only 7,000 full-time inhabitants. Immediately glancing at the menu my jaw dropped at the prices. One restaurant made you pay ten euros for a glass of tap water (and I thought Times Square was expensive). My parents cried a little at the prices of the food but to be quite honest it was some of the best dishes I had on my trip. That night we watched the fireworks dance over the island from our hotel’s pool and went to bed. The next morning my sister and I woke up for an early run around the island to get a better sense of where our hotel was located. The streets were a beautiful cobblestone with cute stores at every corner. We ate breakfast at our hotel and grabbed our bathing suits to go to the famous beaches on the island. My family and I got into a taxi to go back down to the bottom of the island. We met up with our group and got a boat tour around the island to take some photos and lay out in the sun. After the boat tour we grabbed a small snack and walked down to the beach.The beach is definitely not what I expected in which there was no sand. It was all rocks, and yes it may of looked beautiful for photos, but one could not walk or even lay on it. But it was still worth it because the water was super warm and it had incredible views of the backdrop of the mainland. After the beach, we did a little shopping around the center and then went back to our hotel room to grab our belongings and head to Venice. Although Capri is quite expensive and a little snobby, I can tell you it’s hands down the coolest place I have ever been. The views are better than what you see in National Geographic, and although I got some weird looks from people, it made funny stories to tell my extended family. If you are going abroad with your friends or just visiting Italy with your family, I can 100% recommend visiting this unique island. This place will give you memories to last you a lifetime, and of course, great Instagram pictures.

Happy Travels,

Nicole Svingen