Last stop: Limonc(h)ell's, Nancy's smelts, th'land o' the golden egg...

Naples, from the back of the Brilliance

I know the title's a stretch for these lyrics, but my sixth grader's mind was stuck there thanks to the smelts.

6:20 a.m.

We're trying to decide what to do in Naples. Capri is supposed to be beautiful, but we're a bit gun shy about going far from the ship after learning that we just missed the train problems in Rome that saw a group of fellow cruisers stranded and forced to catch a flight to Santorini to meet us. That, and, after watching the news, Stephen said that the Greek protests that closed the port in Athens yesterday looked a lot like the places we went; maybe they started late in the day before. Surreal, to say the least!

6:11 p.m.

On the train to Sorrento

In the end, we decided to throw caution to the wind and take the train to Sorrento. What a wonderful voyage to what must be the lemon capital of the world. We sampled limoncello -- picking up a little bottle for Stephen's dad -- munched on lovely grapes and peaches, and finally sat down for a bit of Napoli's famous dish: pizza.

We also ran into the Amazing Race couple! They'd come by organized tour.

Sorrento

Emboldened by our early success, we then made our way down to Sorrento's breathtaking coastline and bought tickets for a ferry to Capri. We stopped for a bite at an outdoor restaurant by the wharf, while we waited for our 1 p.m. berth. Seafood dominated the recommendations, so Tea had bream, Nancy had smelts, and I had mussels in olive oil with parmesan and garlic. Stephen had lasagna, staying with the Italian theme of the morning.

Capri

Half an hour later, we were in the land of the rich and famous -- at least, as I imagine it, after ogling the yachts in Capri's harbour, and all the zeroes on the price tags in the shop windows. We took the funicular to the top, where, defying nature, it seemed even hotter than the frying pan of the streets below. After a bit of sightseeing -- and a stop in the posh pay washrooms to splash cold water around our heads -- we started back down, by the pedestrian way this time. Despite the 700 odd steps, it only took us about 15 minutes -- thankfully, there wasn't a donkey in sight -- where we caught the 4 p.m. ferry back to the port of Naples.