The Emperor Hot Spot, the Origin of Pizza, and the Historical Centre

The island of Capri and the Historical and Cultural centres of Naples and Florence 

So it's been a few days and of course lots has happened but ill try and be brief. The island of Capri was incredibly beautiful just like the Amalfi coast. The island was once a holiday destination for one of the Roman emperors- Emperor Tiberius. We spent two days here and unfortunately it rained one of the 2 days. Our first day was spent struggling to find our hotel in the hot Italian heat-we didn't take the time to find the local porters who would have taken our baggage up to our hotel so we struggled with our bags while trying to read maps and road signs- not much fun. 

Once we were settled though we received loads of info from the concierge man at the front desk and we took off to the other side of the island called Anacapri where there is a chairlift going up to some amazing views. This was definately worth it, then we toured the town a bit and found our first pair of Italian shoes! :) my mama was pretty excited they had size 5s. The following day was the day of rain. We had a hike scheduled but opted out due to unfortunate weather so we had a bit of time on our hands. We chose to bus it over near the Blue Grotto which is a small cave in the side of the island. The water shines in and lights up the water to a magnificent highlighter blue, though with the cloudy skies it wasn't quite as bright. But we did get our 24 Euro picture inside the cave. Yeeeeah... They charged us an 8€ entry fee plus a 4€ government tax- this was a pretty expensive 10 minute boat ride in and out of the cave. But it was cool all the same, I guess back in the day the cave was used by the Romans as a special bath, at another point it was believed to be haunted. 

Off to Naples via ferry! The origin of Pizza! 

I loved Naples. We only had one day there before heading off to Florence but this city had such an amazing character and so much life to it. When our transfer picked us up from the ferry we drove through the run down and grungy streets absolutely covered in graffiti. It didn't matter where, it could have been a historical statue, a museum, a dark side street, it was covered in graffiti. The streets were lined with endless apartments, laundry hanging down from balconies, signs for restaurants or churches- the streets were full and so narrow. My mom and I roamed the streets and did some more shopping- Naples had some amazing sales while we were there so yep we bought some more shoes :):) Naples is often described as intimidating due to the chaos and high volumes of people but I felt right at home in that city- maybe it took me back to Asia. Then of course we had to have pizza in the city it originated in!! Soooooo good :) 

I do have to mention our hotel- pretty wicked little place buuuut it was a gated hotel. This tells you a bit about Naples and that it can be a bit more of a rough and tough city. This place is where you are most likely to get pickpocketed- especially during awesome street dancer shows in the streets:) we saw some kids break dancing and doing some killer moves after our dinner- gah it was so cool!! 

Next day- Florence via Train! The city of the Renaissance 

The trains take a lot out of my mama. We don't have any sort of convenient train system back home so it's quite foreign for her. The stations are busy and crowded and there is no one around to help us with our heavy heavy bags. Luckily I can put mine on my back so I can step up the large steps onto the train- my mom isn't so lucky with the suitcase half the size of her... Once on the train though it was quite an enjoyable ride. unfortunately though our driver was not there to pick us up to take us to our hotel- #firstworldproblems

We were a bit tired by the time we were settled in our hotel and we only had the evening there before heading off to Chianti the following day so we did a small bit of touring in the city centre before enjoying one of the best meals in Italy yet- but of course we ate until we were about to burst!! Florence was a pretty cool city, and was in stark contrast to Naples with a classic and historical feel to it. This was my first impression anyway as we spent less than 24 hours there. 

Now we are in Chianti- wine country!! Like we need encouragement to drink Vino ;)