Anne & Kirk Woodyard – Music and Markets Tours

Enticing, tempting, captivating….that’s what Capri has done through the millenia, whether to emperors, photographers, A-list stars, or just ordinary people like you and me.We returned to this dreamy island, where we’ve often spent a few days, earlier this year in preparation for our newest tour, The Wonders of the Amalfi Coast, planning to confirm a few things for a day trip, similar to the ones we’ve done on our Music and Markets Amalfi Coast Tour since 2005.
We stayed in Capritown on our last visit, but this time we chose to base ourselves in Anacapri, high atop the cliffs – see that dot of white about a third of the way down the ridge? That’s our usual destination when we arrive with our tour guests – who knows what it is?!
The only way to get from the marina, and Capritown, to Anacapri until 1874 when a road was built, was a still-usable stairway zigzagged into the cliff.
On our Capri day trip we load into a surrey-with-the-fringe-on-top taxi and head up the rock from Marina Grande, and soon we’re walking the peaceful paths of Villa San Michele in Anacapri, Dr. Axel Munthe’s exquisite house and gardens built over the ruins of a Roman emperor’s palace in the early 1900s. We love how he incorporated Roman relics discovered during construction – a marble face here, a bit of a pillar there.
Through the shaded gardenswe stroll to that white spot we saw from the sea on our approach…and there, far below is where we sailed in, with this red granite sphinx gazing down on us – we could see the white building, but not this red speck from so far away.
Of course this wonderful villa, garden and view will be part of our Wonders of the Amalfi Coast tour, but as the two of us strolled the lovely lanes of Capri we continually gasped at the views, even though we’d seen them many times before, and both of us realized that we HAD to include more than a day on Capri…so our April tour will begin with two nights on mountaintop Anacapri! We found the perfect hotel – with more to-die-for views, and know our guests will love having more time to better appreciate this gorgeous spot in the Mediterranean. A meal at our Anacapri favorite, Il Solitario, will of course stay on the itinerary – this happy group from a previous summer tour shared a toast, and agreed that a Caprese Salad tastes best on Capri! We’ll have time to wander the lanes of Anacapri and Capri, spotting beautiful ceramic benches and flower-filled hidden paths, pausing for lunch by a flower-bedecked beauty, taking in the vistas from the water as we cruise around the island, sipping a crisp white by the pool,  and enjoying the quiet piazzas and lanes after dark, when the day-trippers have sailed away.We can’t wait to return to share Captivating Capri with our guests in April!

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The best way to describe us (Kirk and Anne Woodyard) is that we’re interested in the stories that make the places we visit come alive.
We’ve visited Europe more times than we can count, learned some entertaining stories there, and met some warm and helpful people who also enjoy the wonders of music and life in Europe. We look forward to sharing these stories and friends and experiences with our Music and Markets guests.
Between our music-related travels, we split our time between our homes near Washington DC and the south of France.
While both of us have experience in organizing travel and music groups Kirk’s background is in project management and competitive writing, and Anne is an accomplished pianist with over thirty years of teaching experience, and a travel and food writer specializing in France and Italy.