We had a relatively late start time for Capri – 9:50 am. Yay! We needed the sleep. We took a bus down the perilous hill to a boat and headed for Capri. Our guide, Sascha, was quite” fabulous” and really on top of things. He had great hair and a good sense of humor. He was wrangling 46 people speaking English and Spanish, so it was a challenge!
It’s a 45 minute boat ride from the mainland to Capri, and Sascha told us that we would try to see the Blue Grotto immediately upon arrival. We had to make sure that we were all lined up at the front of the boat so we could get the heck off of it and get to the front of the Blue Grotto line. Trying to be first in a group of Italians is tough to do, but we managed it.
Unfortunately the Blue Grotto was closed in the morning, so we took another precarious bus ride to Anacapri, the village at the top of the island. Once there, we rode a rickety chairlift to the very top. The view was amazing, the steepness of the hill energizing, and the ability to stare into people’s gardens strangely intimate. It was a much needed respite from seeing so many buildings and artwork, and to just look at nature and beautiful scenery.
Then it was back down the hill, hurry hurry, to catch a boat to the Blue Grotto, a small cave discovered in Augustus’s time and used by the Emperor Tiberius as his private swimming pool before being rediscovered in modern times. We waited for 45 minutes to get in. Finally, a small rowboat pulled up and took me, Eric, Anders and Lauren in. We thought that having Eric and Anders in the same boat would be smart (they are about the same height), but in retrospect it might not have been the best idea, because there were a lot of long legs in this small rowboat. To get into the grotto, you have to lie all the way down in the boat, and the boatman hauls you in using a rope. They have to bend all the way backwards, because there is just enough room for a small rowboat to fit, and not enough room to stand up. After our trip in, Eric and Anders know each other on a much more personal level. LOL
Despite the wait and the short boat ride, the Blue Grotto is really worth it. The water is electric blue and otherworldly. Antonia’s grandfather had told us that there wasn’t much worth seeing in the south of Italy, and we would agree, but Capri was definitely worth the trip south for us.
On the bus on the way back, we had a great time with Zoe, Jennifer and Dora, who were telling us wild tales of bachelorette parties. (Zoe’s mother-in-law’s battle cry during Zoe’s bachelorette party: “Feed the penises!”)
Once in Rome, we spent the last night with the tour in the Polo Hotel. (Thank God!) Tomorrow we have one day Rome before deciding what to do with the rest of our days in Italy.
