"Enjoy? You Enjoy??"

  Naples/Isle of Capri, Italy
Friday, September 2, 2005

Naples/Isle of Capri, Italy

Things We Did:

Got the hell out of Naples

Caught a ferry to the island of Capri

Hired a boat to take us around the entire island

Went for a swim at a local beach

Had a bite to eat at a street side restaurant where we drank Peroni, a locally brewed beer

Bought some souvenirs in touristy street shops along the waterfront

Bought some creamy gelato from a kid who, when he found out we were from Hawaii, let out a deep sigh and pretended to lean back and lay out in the sun

Just as we thought our day on Capri was coming to a close, a woman at a souvenir shop told us that there was more to be seen of the island, so...



We took a ride up the mountain on the Funicular to the top of the island where we strolled through the tiny yet posh town of Capri. On the way up we rattled past local streets, tight and cobble-stoned, and backyards thick with bougainvillea hedges and grape vines. No other residential area looked cooler

Rode the Funicular back down the mountain and caught the 5:00 ferry back to Naples

Food We Ate:

La Frutta di Mare- A pasta dish. Spaghetti in a light but tangy red sauce with fresh seafood. Mussels, prawns, calamari, scallops and fish.

Peroni Beer- Very light and refreshing.

Deep-fried Calamari

People We Met:

Alfonso- Our Italian captain. We hired him to take us around the perimeter of the island of Capri on his boat. He took us into little grottoes and showed us stalactites (or is it stalagmites), statues and orange coral found only on Capri. He couldn't keep his hands off of Camille, and continuously asked us, "Enjoy? You enjoy??" with his chubby thumb up in the air and a big fat grin on his face. He has 2 sons, one who commutes to Naples for school.

Little Fisher Boys- 4 Italian boys who came to fish on the rock we were hanging out on. They hopped their way across the boulders chatting and laughing to one another in Italian. They perched right next to Nick and I and pulled out an extendable fishing rod that turned out to be about 4 times the size of them. They had a sack of fresh prawns which they used as bait and chum. They also smacked each other on the back with handfuls of the stuff. When Mei tried to take a picture of them, they laughed and shied away from the "senore". When a bee came, they yelled and two of them ran off screaming in Italian. The other two laughed and, when I smashed the bee, cried out in English, "You are the winner!"

Dana (pronounced Donna)- A Romanian waitress living on Capri. She saw us walking by in the morning and called us to come and sit. When we said we would come back later, she said she'd wait. Sure enough, we passed again a few hours later and she asked us what happened. We promised to come back when we were hungry, which we did after lying out on the beach. She was from Romania, but had friends on Capri so decided to move and work there. She spilled sauce on Keoki's back, and wiped him off shyly. She told Mei that her hair was lovely, and said that Camille had a beautiful face. Camille made her a flower out of the Peroni bottle labels, and as we left, she gave each of us a typical European farewell, a light kiss on both cheeks.



Maria and Olga- Two young ladies (one from Moscow, the other from Belarus) both living in San Francisco. Olga lived in Hawaii for six years where she had a Gymnastics school. She came to America as a Jewish political refugee. Her dad died at 54 from a heart attack and her mother died 5 years ago. This was their first cruise, and they weren't sure if they would do it again. Olga said that her style of traveling was more about driving from place to place with no set itinerary, and spending a few days in each spot. She also explained to me what it was like growing up in a country under the Soviet Union, and the difficult changes that her country, and she as an individual, went through when given independence from Russia (along with 14 other countries formerly part of the U.S.S.R.)

Russ and Dan- Cousins from Chicago. Russ has been to Hawaii several times and loved it. This particular cruise was a gift to him from his dad for his birthday. They were both friendly and talkative, but they were also your typical All-American rich boys as they looked and played the part perfectly. (Although I have to admit that there is some culture in Russ, as one day while Olga and Maria spoke to each other in Russian, he said it wasn't fair that they had their own secret lingo, so he asked if he could speak Spanish with me.) Both he and Camille competed in the Princess Idol competition, and during the rehearsals he was helpful to her in trying to pick the right song and key for her voice. For the finals, he did "When I'm Gone" by 3 Doors Down, and it was undeniable that the guys vocals kick A!

Lisa- Massage therapist from New Zealand. She was a big girl, but her hands were too soft and light for a masseuse. However, her Japanese silk facial was unreal. It consisted of layer after layer of cold and hot, rough and smooth textures