Jam packed stations, busy streets, crowded eatiers and lots of buzz best describes Nalples.

Naples- A city which reminds me of Italian Mafia looks a bit chaotic at first, imbibes a beautiful culture of its own. Having stayed in India for 27 years now, this was the only place in Europe that seemed to have a tinge of an Indian city and Yeah, being there felt close to home.

A 45 minute ferry ride from there took me to one of the most mesmerizing places I have ever been to. The moment I saw a glimpse of Capri I felt as if I had landed in the world of Liliput (Gulliver’s Travels). The roads were as small as if made for toy cars, the water was no less than a layer of sparkling diamonds, the trees reminded me of the bright green color I used in my paintings when I was a kid.  It was a small world on its own and the beauty could only be felt and difficult to describe here.

We took the cable car and ascended up the hill to Anacapri bus stop. The bus was stuffed with tourists and we could hardly breathe. The worst part was that no one understood any English word and thus, we landed at a wrong place. We realized the importance of local language (Exactly felt like not knowing Marathi in Pune) since no one was able to guide us to the hotel and we were left all confused.

Like an angel came a Srilankan guy who thankfully knew English. He called our hotel and arranged for a car to take us. We sat in the car and wondered how we would be able to travel in the small “toy roads”. We thanked our Srilankan friend (Friend, I call him because we had exchanged our life’s story in the fifteen minutes wait for the car) and left.

We reached hotel, threw our stuff and rushed out. We did not want to wait even a single minute to feel the beauty. We walked the small streets and felt like Columbus with a mission to explore every nook and corner of Anacapri. We reached the main port-Marina Grande, and tagged along with a nice Japanese couple to take a boat tour around the island.

The Island tour was an experience of a lifetime. We were in a motor boat in sparkling waters, and as the boat drove us more into the deep waters, we saw the entire city. Lush green trees, naturally carved shapes on the mountains, colorful corals and caves in the middle of waters. This 45 minute ride is one of the “Must do in a lifetime” thing. The hole in the mountain you see in the picture below- the locals call it love point. The couples are supposed to kiss while passing through. 🙂

Flip side of the coin- You need to have lots of coins in Capri.. 😉 The place is expensive but we still managed to buy a tea set which had Capri waters printed on it. And till today, we always have our Sunday morning tea in those beautiful cups to refresh the memories of Capri. 🙂

Next day we woke up and a lavish European breakfast awaited us. Costanzo was our host we really enjoyed our stay in their cute little B&B. He dropped us back to Marina Grande. Going back was exactly like when you ask a little kid to go to school when he hasn’t done his homework. We closed our eyes and captured the beauty one last time with a hope and wish to be back again and feel life!!