The sweetness of doing nothing by Vir Sanghvi

I still remember the time I first went to Capri.

It was almost exactly ten years ago and I was travelling around the Amalfi coast on a Sea Dream yacht which had about 50 cabins, and excellent food and wine (they sold it as a ‘champagne and caviar cruise’).

We went to places I had only heard of before (Sorrento, Ravello, Positano) which were, I discovered, part of the Amalfi coast in the South of Italy.

The ship would sail at night (the destinations are actually quite near) and dock during the day allowing passengers to visit each destination. I loved everywhere we went but the highlight of the trip for me was Capri.

I had heard of Capri before but only through songs (The Isle of Capri was a hit in the 1950s, and is something of a standard now) and through its reputation as a place where Hollywood stars and European playboys vacationed.

We rented one of Capri’s famous taxis (a 1950s convertible with its top down) and drove in glorious sunshine to Anacapri, the higher part of the island and to a glorious seafood restaurant on a cliff. It had a Michelin star and the food was fabulous. After the third glass of limoncello, I remember sitting back and thinking: “This is the life.”

I forgot the name of the restaurant in the decades that followed but never forgot that all-too-brief visit to Capri. When my wife and I went to Capri again, last month, no sooner had we got into the car that was taking us to our hotel than the magic of Capri overcame me again. Clear blue skies, an azure sea, jagged cliffs and eye-popping foliage everywhere — it was pretty much as I remembered it.

As soon as we checked into the Jumeirah Capri Palace I showed photographs of our seafood lunch from a decade ago to the staff. Did they recognise the restaurant? You bet they did. It is called II Riccio and though it is not on the property it is actually run by the Capri Palace. They were only too happy to book us in for lunch the next day.

But before that, I read up on Capri. It turns out that the island has been a resort since the days of the Roman empire when the Emperor Tiberius lived there, built 12 villas and created a somewhat depraved paradise for himself. It has remained a resort ever since but unlike many others of its kind, it attracted writers and intellectuals. Somerset Maugham had a villa there.  Oscar Wilde came to live in Capri with his male lover but the couple were driven out because, despite its popularity as a gay haunt, Wilde’s outrageous behaviour was too much for even the tolerant people of Capri. More recently Graham Greene had a villa in Capri and spent many years there.

And yes, the playboy/movie star connection that I vaguely recalled was still alive and well. Capri’s grand hotels were full of celebrities and many stars also owned villas there. (Mariah Carey, for instance.)

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