Our second day on Capri dawned clear and cold. We bundled up after breakfast and walked into Anacapri to catch the bus to the town of Capri.
In the piazzetta in Anacapri there were always a number of taxis waiting. The standard Capri taxi seats six or seven and is a convertable. I don't think I saw one with the top down while we were there but I could just imagine the tourists zipping around the island in the summer with the wind blowing in their hair.
On an island where one of the main forms of transportation are scooters and motorcycles, this is what one of the parking lots near the town center looks like.
This clock tower is in the center of Capri with the main piazza just beyond it. There were lots of tourists and shop windows to look at so I forgot to take many more pictures.
I do not find the shoes in Italy very appealing this fall. Here is a pair of Dolce e Gabbana pumps that seem particularly ugly. Patent leather seems to be all the rage but 95% of the shoes are black. Shop windows are supposed to label everything with the price but this law is often ignored. The pricier the store the more likely there are not prices displayed. However, I am willing to bet these shoes cost more than I am willing to pay.
From the center of town we walked down to the Certosa di San Giacomo (St. James' Cloister). You can see the top of the bell tower and part of the old monastary complex beyond the gardens.
The church was closed to visitors but the doors were open. We could see inside to the newly restored frescoes. It looked like they were setting up for a photo shoot.
Inside part of the old monastary is an exhibit of paintings by a German artist who lived on the island for many years around 1900. The pictures were huge and not terribly appealing. No photos were allowed so you will have to go check them out for yourself.
As we entered the monastary this cat walked up and asked to be petted. After we obliged it followed us around as we explored.
The interior of the monastary was generally plain but it has some interesting features. This heavy wooden door has a beautiful stone surround.
Part of the monastary is now used as a high school. While we were there the students took a break and gathered in the old cloister to relax.
I took this photo of the clouds moving in through one of the arched openings leading to the cloister.
After we explored the old monastary we saw this path that led to the gardens behind it.
We followed the path through the trees and shrubbery and found this beautiful "belvedere" overlooking the water. There are many of these spots on Capri. The last time we were on the island we visited one that was about twice as high up. I could not stand to get near the railing there but this one was not as bad.
From the belvedere we could look across the west side of the island. The rugged topography of Capri is apparent from here. There are only a handful of places along the shore where it is possible to land a boat. That helps explain why it has been settled since ancient times. It would have been easily defensible. Nonetheless, it was attacked time and again including by the pirate Barbarossa.
Looking straight down from the belvedere one could look straight into the clear, clear water.
There was a stone bench at the belvedere and it was protected from the chilly breeze so we lingered there for a while. The friendly cat had followed us out to the edge and wanted more petting. It hopped up next to Dom and he obliged while I took a picture.
When I sat down the cat crawled right up on my lap. It was nice to get a good kitty fix. None of our Partigliano cats will sit on my lab.
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