While dreaming of the old lightness of life, this time I want to take you to a beautiful corner of Italy, to the Gulf of Naples connected to the Tyrrhenian Sea, where we went last week.I believe that all of us are very tired of the economic crisis that hits people worldwide , of the risks of war being around all of us , energy problems,nuclear threats and pandemics that are part of our lives nowadays . That’s why this trip really felt like a medicine for us. Breaking away , leaving everything behind and concentrate only on life, nature and your family and life became a big longing for all of us .

We’re staying in Sorrento in the Campaign Zone. It’s an amazing place to live. In front of us we see the Bay of Naples, in the far distance we see the city of Naples and the magnificent volcanic Mount Vesuvius.

On the opposite side, off the Sorrentine Peninsula, the island of Capri winks at us. The Amalfi coastline starts from here and stretches from Positano and Amalfi to Salerno. There is an incredible nice geography – mountains, steep slopes, flowers creeping from the slopes, bougainvillea, gigantic cacti, olive trees, lemon and tangerine trees and a sparkling azure blue sea at the foot of the cliffs .

We leave our hotel in the early morning and land in Sorrento Port. Here they sell daily tickets to Capri Island.

We buy our tickets and hurry to our boat, which will leave immediately. We are in October but the weather is so sweet. The sun is warm but not burning, a light wind licks our face. Only in the evenings, when the sun disappears behind the slopes, it gets really cool. The weather is perfect for travelling around!

Between white foaming waves, our boat takes us to the beautiful island of Capri, which is about 15 kilometers away. I am really so curious about the island. This place has always been a very special and glamorous summer place since the Roman Empire period. You can still see the remains of 12 summer villas belonging to the Roman Emperor Tiberius, especially Villa Jovis, on the island.

In the 20th century, the world’s jet set spent its summer here. In the 1960s, the island of Capri became the summer resort of celebrities such as Brigitte Bardot, Elizabeth Taylor, Jaqueline Onassis.

We arrive at the island with our boat and dock at the ‘Marina Grande’, which means ‘huge harbor’. The island of Capri is actually tiny, six kilometers long and only two kilometers wide, but its glory is worth the world.

We decide to go up the steep slopes of Capri by funicular from the center at the port.

While watching the sea view from the windows of the funicular, I see the sirens and their legends that Homer told in his Odyssey.

According to Greek Mythology, Sirens are three mythological figures, upper body female and lower body bird, living especially off the coast of Sorrento and Capri Island. With their very subtle voices, they tempt the sailors passing by this coastline and drag them out of their route to the bottom of the sea. Sirens are sometimes likened to mermaids. How well Mythology suits this geography.

After a short break, we get off the funicular and arrive at Capri’s main square, the wonderful  La Piazzetta.

This is a unique location with its clock tower, church and view.

We start our walk from this wonderful square. The shops of luxury world brands shine with new season products.

Tiny transport vehicles such as tricycles carry the suitcases of newly arrived tourists from narrow streets to their hotels.

The houses are usually single or at most two storeys and are white, apricot ,tan and yellow colour .

Flowers, vines, exotic trees adorn the whole place in such an aesthetic way that an extraordinary ambiance is created.

.Everything we see caresses our eyes .People are very elegant .

We glide down the streets here and finally we sit in one of the very stylish cafes and have a special ‘Café Freddo’, that is, cold coffee and the famous lemon tart.

There are a lot of American and English tourists and they immediately engage in very warm conversations.

How nice it is to be together in harmony and peace. After having enjoyed the shop area we decide to walk through the lemon gardens of this region to the other side of the island .

The streets are very narrow and curvy , sometimes quite steep .Actually our goal is to go to the Gardens of Augustus or the Gardini di Augusto. On our way, we come across Carthusia, the famous perfumer of Capri Island.

The scents of this perfume have been carrying the scents of the Island of Capri since 1948.They are the scents of lemons , mandarines , mint and bergamot .

After passing Carthusia,

we arrive at the Augustus Gardens, located on the land belonging to the famous German industrialist Krupp Family.

On this hill in the early 20th century, Friederich Alfred Krupp built an enormous summer mansion within a gorgeous botanical garden.

A serpentine (snake-shaped) road called Via Krupp stretches from the mansion to the coast from the top of the slope to Marina Piccola, which means “the small harbor” . This road used to provide the connection between the Krupp Family’s mansion and their boats lying in the harbor. Some caves were known to be accessible and it is said that wild parties were taking place over here. In 1902, this famous family was expelled from Capri and even from Italy due to the scandals at these private parties. The hill on which the Gardens of Augustus is located is so enormous that you have a view of about 180 degrees of the island from a hundred meters high.

On the one hand, the botanical garden and the turquoise waters of Marina Piccola and the pebble beach are visible and on the other hand, the iconic Faraglione Rocks and Solaro Hill of Capri Island.IThe views are so beautiful .

The sea down at the coast is shining in dark navy color . at both sides people are in the bays with their boats and enjoy the great weather and the sea .We can”t get enough of the beautiful views and the colors of the beautiful nature around .

Returning to the center, we take small minibuses from here and this time we go down to the Marina Piccola, the small port.

I can”t tell how narrow the roads are .It is very difficult for two vehicles to pass side by side on the road. The roads are both, very steep and very narrow. It is a pleasure not to be the driver here. But the drivers here are used to it, of course, and they take every corner very easily. I think I saw the closest distance between two vehicles in my life here. There was probably not even a 5cm distance between the two vehicles, but one could continue downhill and the other uphill without crashing into each other. It was incredible!

We arrive in the Little Harbor in the afternoon. This place reminds me of the sea clubs of the 60s and 70s.

Everything is retro. Yellow, green, orange and navy blue and white striped umbrellas, cliffs, people sunbathing on this tiny beach, two small but very enjoyable beach restaurants – they all remind me of scenes from old movies.

It’s very cute. We swim in the sea, we eat our paninis, we drink our Aperols.

Life is very enjoyable over here.

It is said that the energy of some places is very high, so that it adds life to one’s lifespan.

Capri is definitely such a place where you will have the feeling that life is really worth everything and where you feel healthy and in supermood. In the afternoon, the sun slowly disappears behind the high cliffs and all of a sudden everyone packs their belongings and rushes to the bus stop where the minibuses and taxis are waiting.

For daily travelers, the day is almost over and everyone is trying to catch the last ferry that leaves the island. Even this rush is very sweet and reminds me of the ferry rush in our Prince Islands in Istanbul. In the evening, the sound of the wind is whistling to our ears. Just like the gentle sound of mermaids or sirens in the mythology, we get on our boat from the harbor and reach Sorrento safely through those huge waves. Of course, we couldn’t get enough of the island.

There were many more places to explore. In fact, you should stay on the island for a few days and live the island to the fullest. I hope you will also reach out to such beautiful places and your dreams as I found peace, joy and inspiration in Capri and I do hope that soonest peace and tranquility will return to our world.