The island of Capri
Well today is the day that I’ve been waiting for for some time, to be returning to the place I lived in Italy, to a place that always feels like home when I am there. And it’s really important this time as I’m going back to recce the places that I will be including in the photography holiday, and I can’t wait. I’m really excited about stepping on the plane about being in my favourite hotel and being around the friends that I made when I was there.
Also the area is so beautiful, so bewitching and when I set up the photography website, the thing that I most wanted was to have a fuller portfolio of Italy, of my part of Italy that I love. Alluring photos of the hidden corners, secret alleyways and beautiful viewpoints.
I’ve allowed myself a couple of days in the schedule where I can relax and enjoy myself although they will be days that I visit hotels. Sorrento is notoriously expensive for hotels even as a tour operator, it’s very hard to get a break in Sorrento and when you look at holidays in Italy, you will see that they are so much more expensive than holidays in Spain, Greece or anywhere else in the Mediterranean, because the initial costs to us are very, very expensive and it’s very hard to drive them down and get good tour operator rates.
So the hotels I’ll be looking at are further out of town. However by moving out of town, to villages where there are still cafes, restaurants, and beaches, I hope that I’ll get a better price and more dedicated service. I’ll also be keeping an eye out for any health and safety issues that obviously stand out. The ultimate day of the itinerary for me will be Capri, because oh gosh, I love that island and I could sit and stare at the Faraglioni rocks forever. So I’m looking forward to getting there and see the island in all it’s glory.
There are lots of places that I’m going to be going and looking at, some old haunts, my favourite restaurant in the world; a little restaurant sat on the edge of the beach in a tiny little bay with fantastic fish dishes and delicious desserts. I will be walking down some very steep hills to get there as it’s worth the walk and also I’ll give this as a recommendation on the tour so people can go and experience this lovely restaurant if it’s still as good as it was when I lived there.
It’s going to be quite an intense few days as I have a lot of ground to cover via public transport, as the transport is so good down there it’s so easy to do. I’ll be replicating the tour, looking at the time to see how long it takes to get to places by foot and making notes of some of the best view points along the walks. I’ll be road testing some of the restaurants that I’ll be putting into the tour to make sure they are as good as I hear they are. And also thinking about adding a few special little areas. There is a little suburb of Sorrento that I really love, it’s not somewhere where I would have guests stay as there aren’t many cafes or restaurants in the area, and because of that, it is a very tranquil part.
There’s a hidden park and if you’ve ever seen paintings from artists on their grand tour of Italy, you will see paintings of high gorges with water rushing through under stone bridges with hillsides behind. There is one part that reminds me of this scene, so I’m going back there to look at it again, check my imagination isn’t making it better than it is and take some photos. I’m also looking at it with a view to seeing if it’s something that would be worthy of going in to an afternoon walking tour of Sorrento.
So it’s all going to keep me very busy, though I am going to have a wonderful time enjoying myself. Next week there will be an article written by my own hand, or by the computer, that isn’t part of this series, because I’ll be away when the next one is due to be published. However when I come back I’ll be writing all about this trip so I’ll see you in two weeks.
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Living in the beautiful rural county of Yorkshire it was perhaps natural for Ruth to have an affinity with the countryside and its wildlife. Creativity is Ruth’s driving force finding an outlet in television & radio she worked for many years as producer for BBC & ITV.
However a love of photography and for being surrounded by nature called her to go back to her photography training and bring pleasure and joy to people through her connection with our planet.
Staying in the moment when taking her images allows her to experience the natural magnificence unfolding before her eyes. It is this moment of mediation, of gratitude, that she evocatively conveys through her images.