Shore Excursions – Page 3

Architecture, ART, Attractions, Cruising, DESTINATIONS, Gardens, International, Shore Excursions, TRAVEL

Giardini di Augusto

March 11, 2020October 31, 2019 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: A MOST BEAUTIFUL VIEW

I couldn’t find much back story to Giardini de Augusto. A rich European industrialist is responsible for its creation and it is the primary attraction in the town of Capri. History is not all that makes a site worth visiting. I’m glad I went. If you get the opportunity, you should, too.

Watch for It on the Left

If you go on your own, you can probably just follow the crowds across the town to get from the Piazza Umberto I. In the final stretch you will need to be a little more careful.

There’s a perfumery on this path and not far from it, this lovely lemonade stand. Can you believe the size of those lemons? I was told they are organic and they are the size of a grapefruit. Once you see these two landmarks, keep a close eye on the left. A very small entry way and an equally small bule tile sign are all that warn you that you have arrived. I’m quite sure the small street continues to who knows where, but you want to stop at the garden.

Views to Die For

The three stone in the picture above are the Farglioni or Stacks, as seen from the Augustus Garden. It really is an outstanding view – one you could spend a day enjoying, but it’s not all that’s there. It’s nothing grand and expansive like Dallas’ Arboretum & Botanical Garden. Just a verey well kpt little garden where tourists come to take pictures.

Once again, I wished to be there without the tourists. Even though I am not a fan of lemons, I was tempted to try Capri’s version of the concoction and perhaps shop in the perfumery. It was nice to contemplate sipping on a refreshing drink and enjoying the view.

Here’s what I mean.

Back to the Piazza

Paolo had cut us loose in the garden with instructions to be back at the Piazza at a certain time. We’d lost Deb and Vik somewhere along the way and we couldn’t find them in the garden anywhere, so we had to assume they’d already headed back. Bill and I took our leisure strolling along with the Bagleys.

We began to appreciate Paolo more and more. We’d wondered why he’d raced at such a pace across the island, but it soon became clear. For one thing, this sidewalk had not been nearly as crowded as we made our way to the garden. For another, the temperature was rising with great speed. It was downright hot.

The crowds are concentrated at the gardens and in the Piazza. Between the two points we were able to stroll along in relative peace, even if we were very, very hot. The town of Capri is lovely. I wanted to linger, buy a gelato and do some shopping, but my companions just wanted to get back to the Piazza.

The line for the Funicular was still daunting!

At the Piazza the Bagleys peeled off in search of adult beverages and public restrooms. Bill and I went to the assigned meeting spot and enjoyed the view. Eventually, everyone was back together. Paolo showed up with our return tickets for the funicular and told us what time to meet him at the ferry for Sorrento.

Once down at Marina Grande, we split up again. The Bagley’s were still interested in adult beverages and I believe the girls were shopping. Bill and I wandered down a side street and got some great pictures. Below you’ll see a mixture of the photos we took in the Piazza and some from the charming side street.

Next we’ll take the ferry to Sorrento, so come back next week.

Attractions, Cruising, DESTINATIONS, International, Shore Excursions, TRAVEL

Funny Funicular Behaviors

March 4, 2020October 31, 2019 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: AMERICANS BEWARE

You can say what you wish about Ugly Americans, but when it comes to waiting our turn, we look a whole lot better than the rest of the world. The funiculare ride on Capri proved this point in spades.

The Final Rigamarole

So we’ve battled the buffet crowds for our breakfast, played the shore excursion group game with the cruise director’s crew, stomped across a port area to get to the ferries, waited to board the ferries, boarded, lived through a vomit fest and now we’ve arrived at the Isle of Capri. Can we please start having fun, yet? Actually, not quite yet.

As I planned the trip, a jet foil to a beautiful island and a funicular ride to the top of a hill sounded quite fun. Perhaps you can tell we aren’t exactly having the times of our life. We filed off the ferry and followed the crowd to the entrance of the funicular. Like good little Americans, we lined up behind the people who were already there, leaving a little American space between ourselves and other people.

We were enjoying chatting among ourselves and had not really noticed that all that American space between us had been eaten up and we were being edged out of our place. This is where our guide began to show his superiority over other guides. Without him, we might have spent the whole day waiting to go up the hill. He started shouting and actually shoving to protect our place in line. He walked up and down monitoring the position of his charges and threatening the entire crowd were they to infringe upon our place in the line.

So, my word of warning is this, if any Americans try to take this funicular up to the city of Capri, throw all your American politeness to the wind and bring out your elbows. Otherwise, you’ll spend the day at the Marina Grande and never make it to the Piazza Umberto. It’s either that or have Paolo as a guide and the odds of that are pretty small.

At the Top of the Hill

Eventually, we made our way to the front of the line and took the short ride to the top of the hill. In Piazza Umberto, Paolo rounded us up and headed across the town at a pretty quick pace. The small city was beyond crowded. I felt as if I should be holding on to a rope like children on a field trip, lest one of us got lost.

A blogging friend of mine did not recommend Capri. He said there was nothing to see. I tend to disagree with him, but the crowds do make it difficult to see what there actually is to see. All I could think of was how wonderful it must be when the tourists go home. Maybe someday I will go spend several days on the island, but from a few prices I saw in the windows of the lovely shops, you’d need some pretty deep pockets to afford to enjoy yourself.

Beyond enjoying the cafes and shopping, there was really only one attraction I could find in Capri Town and that was Giardini di Augusto. I had no idea whether this was where we were headed or not. I was less stressed out about it than I might have been in previous years. Having GPS on your phone is a blessing. Should we get lost we could find our way to the funicular and if we weren’t headed to the garden then I already had it loaded in my Trip Advisor app. We were promised some free time after our tour and the garden sounded worth it to me.

So come back next week and find out if we made it to the Augustus Garden.

Cruising, DESTINATIONS, International, Shore Excursions, TRAVEL

Getting to the Isle of Capri

February 26, 2020October 31, 2019 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: THE HURRY UP AND WAIT CONTINUES

While cruises provide many wonderful memories, there is also a lot of mundane rigamarole in between those memorable moments. This is especially true on big ships like the Celebrity Edge. You can’t just leave your room, grab a quick bite and start your tour. That’s one of the reasons I prefer river cruising. In an hour you can get up, have breakfast and be on your way. On this particular morning we’d been going since 6 AM and hours later we were just now leaving our elegant boat. It just takes time to process all these people.

Heading Ashore for Another Boat Ride

Our shore excursion group trotted off the boat and across a parking lot to a ferry pier. Our guide was a jolly sort, but at this point we had no way to know we’d happened upon the best guide for the trip Paolo of Aloschi Brothers . In fact, he was the best guide I ever had. I’d like to hire him for the rest of my travels for the rest of my life – but we didn’t know that then.

As we entered the area for boarding the ferry, Bill revealed he didn’t have his Dramamine. He said he didn’t realize we were going on a boat ride. Hadn’t we sat there in Montreal’s airport bar and discussed just that thing. Hadn’t he been the one who listed off all the forms of transportation we’d be taking for the tour? Not much we could do at this juncture.

Bill is highly susceptible to seasickness and it has ruined many a shore excursion for him. If I were him, I would have the Dramamine with me every second I was on a cruise, but Bill believes on traveling light and only carrying what you are absolutely going to need. That he didn’t have Dramamine was somehow became my fault, though he didn’t say that outright. I was sorry for him, but a little ticked at the same time.

I had another responsibility, too. As soon as we hit shore, my 4G network international phone plan kicked in and all the Instagram post notifications for the day were dinging at me. A part of me was grateful for the technology allowing me to do my job on the other side of the world, but the other part wished Instagram was a little more cooperative. Having to post from my phone at the given time, rather than automatically as the other social channels allow, bugs me when I am at home in my office. To interrupt my vacation for it really chafed.

All Aboard the Jet Foil

Boarding the jet foil which would ferry us to Capri, our companions went up to the top deck, but Bill felt he’d do better at fighting seasickness downstairs. He sat down, closed his eyes and focused on not being sick. I’m not sure what I expected of the watercraft. It had sounded quite exciting in the brochures, but was really just a ferry. It was fast, but stuck under the deck, I couldn’t tell much about the journey.

Bill was successful in his battle against seasickness, but few others were. About halfway through the 90 minute ride, the vomiting began all around us. I noticed the greatest number of passengers with us below were Asians and they all seemed to be sick, to a man, so much so that the crew ran out of the ability to keep up with it. I’ve never been so glad to get off a boat.I was near to becoming sick myself and it had nothing to do with seasickness.

Finally, we were on the Island of Capri. Certainly things were about to get better, weren’t they? Come back next week and find out.

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