Photo Diary: Capri, Italy // Tourism & A Tiny Bird
The boat was chock full of people just like me – dying to get the shot. Behind us Positano was sinking into the rocky Amalfi coastline. Still out of view, the island of Capri lay ahead. In vain, I tried standing in the aisle of the ferryboat then on my seat for a better angle. It was an admittedly weak attempt. Instead, I was soon distracted by the deckhand offering glasses (read: shots) of lemoncello, to which I immediately obliged- it felt like the right thing to do as we bobbed along the Med.
Once we arrived in Capri we were totally inundated with every tourism-geared offering imaginable – tours, t-shirts, gelato. Since Marina Grande, Capri’s main port, lacks any appeal we quickly flagged down an island cab and careened up the winding mountainside en route for Villa San Michele. In great contrast to its sea-level neighbor, the small town is charming with an obvious sense of a local community, perched atop Capri’s smaller peak (Anacapri sits on the highest). With the weather in our favor but time running short, our goal was simple – get to the namesake Villa San Michele to enjoy the views.
After a brief period of meandering, we made our way to the Villa’s viewpoint. Open and free to the public, the scene was what we’d hoped- extraordinary.
Just as we arrived I noticed an oddly-shaped, rather large bug buzzing around a plant growing from the cliff below me. I began shooting, totally unaware that I was capturing the Lockness of the avian, a hummingbird! When I was little we used to wait and wait for these tinsy little birds to visit our backyard hummingbird feeder. Sometimes they didn’t come for days, even weeks, but just when we were on the verge of giving up hope a flutter of wings would buzz by. We’d race to the window to catch fleeting a glimpse. They are beautiful yet coy, I adore them!
After the lucky encounter, we scooted back down through the barrage of loiters and knickknacks and back out to sea.
