Isle of Capri

Unfortunately our small daily travel budget could not stretch to the extent that we bought the Isle of Capri, instead we settled on the picturesque Piccolo Marina in the postcard perfect Villa Krupp. Needless to say the upgrade from the tent in the dirt where we awoke that morning brought a big smile to the birthday girl on this special day. Happy 26th Birthday Camilla.

Content on reading Harry Potter, being served tea on demand, eating soup on the balcony and sleeping half the afternoon on a real pillow was ample indulgence for the day. Our evening of further celebration commenced with the purchase of the present, Camilla's first (and possibly only) Italian designer bikini followed by drinks in the square. Vino Spumante Dolce, Barghetto l'Aquie is highly recommended if you like a cool sparkling port which incidently has become Camilla's favourite drink of all time.

Leaving the people watching post in the main square we strolled only metres around the corner to the restaurant overlooking the main port, funiculaire and cliffs of Capri. Dinner was delightful with superb meat in real portions served with baked vegetables and completely un-Italian. Our most expensive bottle of wine (ever) was perfect. To top off the experience, and totally unplanned by Steve, a hord of Italian tenors (the entire waitstaff) sang at the top of their lungs 'Happy Birthday'. Some of the restaurant joined in too which was lovely, if not necessary in order for Camilla to be able to hear anything over the sound of the fireworks on the cake under her nose.

Day 1 - 23 May

Now a little older and a little wiser the day consisted of breakfast, Harry Potter, lunch, swim in the Mediterranean, sunbake, dinner, Harry Potter, sleep on pillow. Perfect.

Day 2 - 24 May

Reluctantly packing our bags, finishing off our complimentary breakfast (thankyou Villa Krupp) and taking one last look off our balcony it was a sad day to leave this southern italian paradise. To ease our sense of loss we went directly to the boat hire hut and got ourselves a vessel. In the 'Capri Boat', a 17 foot speed boat with sun lounge and annoying speed limiting peg we set out to circumnavigate the island. Nearly a whole 20 minutes later and we had anchored in our own private bay. Able to see through the deep azure blue water we could not resist the allure any longer.

(Note new bikini)

On our side of the island we could see the balcony, travelled between and under the rock arches, explored coves and dodged the spray on the southern tip as it became quite windy.

Seeing the pain and anguish on Steve's face as he handed back the keys was not pretty but a consoling swim at the main beach waiting for the ferry calmed him down somewhat. Capri is absolutely stunning, well worth a vist even if you don't have the excuse we did to blow the budget (which is now referred to as the black hole and will not be included in any calculations).