Wow...what a day!

The ooo's and ahhh's continued after a night of some much needed rest and a hearty hotel breakfast.  Fortunately, everybody kept it down on  the ferry ride from the Sorrento harbor to the Island of Capri!  We boarded mini-buses and zoomed up the twisting, cliff hanging roads (including the Mamma Mia! section) to enjoy a morning stroll - first in Anacapri ("above" Capri).  Many students opted to go to the top of the island via chair lift, while others found some great souvenirs and views of the island.

Our guides put together an option for a tradional pizza lunch for those who wished. Again, many students opted for this and enjoyed a classic, stone oven, wood-fired, hand-tossed Neapolitan, pizza. For ease of cooking and serving - we all had a simple, yet delicious mozzarella and sauce pizza unlike anything many of us had had before.

This was followed by about an hour in Capri to search the shops and historical center with a funicular ride down to the harbor area.  A number of students then opted for boat ride around a portion of the island where we saw some beautiful limestone/sandstone rock formations and caves including the red and white grottos. Some stunningly clear blue, green, and almost purple water at times, jellyfish, and even a dolphin were some extra perks.

After a return by ferry to Sorrento, we prepared at the hotel for the first of our concerts.  We walked from the hotel to a square across from the Sorrento Mayor's home for the first 20 minutes of our concert, reassembled on the main axis street, and marched toward Piazza Tasso - stopping for performances twice before finishing in that main square. An audience of about 100 quickly assembled and followed along as many, many more joined and stayed through the end of our program.  Many students heard comments of both the locals and tourists shouting "Way to go Minnesota!" and "Complimente!"  A woman from the tourism bureau of a nearby town insisted to one of our guides, "We want THAT band for our town festival in August!"  :-)

Dinner and a night of exploring the shops in Sorrento in groups finished off the evening and capped off a great day all the way around.

Here's a sampling of pictures - many more will follow on our return!

Waiting for the ferry in the Sorrento harbor

View of Capri's main harbor from Anacapri

Pizza!

The views of natural beauty continue

A little beach time for the brave

The National Anthems

The crowd grows as we play (generally a good sign!)

Marching toward Piazza Tasso

The crowd follows!

And grows!

And once again, it's time for bed.  Tomorrow, we enjoy a lighter day with a drive of the Amalfi Coast road and visits to the towns of Positano and Amalfi.