CAAAAAApri

Sorrento, Positano.. beautiful…. Beaches in the French Riveria, breathtaking. Capri… indescribable. It’s just absolutely amazing there. We arrived by boat from Sorrento into Marina Grande. (Thank god for the nice boys behind us who carried our luggage down the steep stairs of the ship, or we would have been rolling down those stairs.)

Knowing how expensive the island would be, we decided to use the REALLY, extra, not-so-reliable autobus. We waited for almost an hour for the buses that again, come whenever they want. When the bus finally pulled up, it was like a comedy show. These busses had 4-6 single seats on them, and standing room. Kim and I referenced them as Scooby Doo vans. Just when you think there is no more room on these, they squeeze in another person. (Sometimes two very large woman.) Ok, not to pick on this semi-elderly woman, but I can’t help but laugh replying this imagine in my mind. This woman plopped down on the stairs spread eagle in her floral dress. We think she was so relaxed she passed gas, and her red toenail was peering through the hole in her white crock. This was just the icing on the cake of the adventures we had getting from Sorrento to Capri. When we finally did get off the bus, we shared some aranchini in from a local stand and then began the truck to our hotel.

We took our 100 pounds of luggage down ramps and extremely narrow and rocky roads. Somewhere along the way, we picked up our own personal tour guide who walked us all the way to our hotel. The whole time thinking….Jolyn.. where was our warning about this hike!!

After briefly settling in our hotel (Bussola di Hermes), we were ready for the main attraction, Grotta Azzurr (The Blue Grotto.) We found the bus stop easily and with some time to spare, so went up the street to a market to have buy water and a snack. We walked out with a large bottle of water, fresh string beans, and vine tomatoes. We cleaned them by poking holes in the bottom of the grocery bag and dumping water over them.

We made it to the Blue Grotto via Scooby Doo bus in a short 10 minutes. Un problemo… The Blue Grotto was closed. Apparently is closed more often than not because the tide is too high, and the water is too rough. Neither of us were really sure what to expect except blue water. We waited for quite awhile on the small grated pier next to the cave to hear the final word on whether we could go in or not. After waves came crashing onto the pier, we realized this just wasn’t happening. When one plan fails, start a new one. Instead, we drank wine at the mini snack bar overlooking the blue grotto. Though we didn’t get to go in, the view from this place is incredible. I think my favorite thus far on my trip. We later saw pictures from inside the cave and were kind of bummed we didn’t actually get to paddle ourselves in there.

We returned to town to find the chairlift that takes you to (what appears to be) one of the highest points in Capri. Note for any future chairlift riders, do no drink wine before this excursion. Kim and I were ready for a nice little romantic ride up on this lift, but we were shocked to find that you actually ride up individually. How freaky!! On the way up, Kim was attacked by a flying cockroach on steroids (3x5 in according to Kim) causing her to strip down to her bathing suit while on the lift. (This bug was so big I could see the size of this bug clearly from the chair behind her.)

When we made it to the top, you could see the whole city. It was a beautiful view and well worth our 9 Euro lift ticket. This was our first view of Faraglione (the 3 stones in Capri).

And what do Kim and I whenever we are in a beautiful location we drink wine! Only this time, we celebrated with Champagne. We had our wine, bar snacks, and sunbathed at the top of this hill. The champagne & sun combo was not the best idea considering we had to get back down via lift. We were both nearly passing out on the way down and the only thing keeping us on our chairs was a thin rod across the top.

After heat and wine, we headed back to our room (which was close to our daytime festivities—Now we are thanking Jolyn for the recommendation.) On the beaten path, we stumbled upon yet another wedding (on a Thursday),

(from the wedding)

and a cute little super market. Here we purchased roasted eggplant in oil, water, and wine! This meal did not settle so well after so much sun, so I napped. Then it was back to Capri to check out the scene. We wanted to wait until all the tourists left (hehe!). The last ferries leave around 6 or 7pm back to the other towns around Naples so there’s not so much commotion by the Marina Gande. We walked around the very expensive towns, and went searching for a couple of famous/ recommend by Rick Steves hotels & restaurants. We went in search of the hotel (Kim do you remember the name??) which was supposed to have amazing views of the Faraglione(3 rocks). Along the way, we stopped at this stand where they were selling miscellaneous fruits, smoothies, and cold beverages. The woman in the stand happened to be the Oracle of Capri. She sang random nonsense while cracking open Kim’s beer. Then we found the rocks, but at a different hotel ( ).That hotel is also where we made friends with Jessica Simpson. I didn’t recognize her at first and nobody else apparently knows who she is there because it was just her and her entourage and their 37 pieces of luggage. We took a picture with her, and she invited us to her birthday party (but we didn’t have our party dresses on, so we passed.)

(look at all their luggage)

On our way back from the hotel, we stopped by the Oracle’s stand, where she sang to us about coming back tomorrow for fresh juice. Then she point us in the direction of George (Clooney) and Giorgio’s (Armani) houses. They lived in the Quisisana Hotel. So we went in there and creeped around. What an amazing hotel.

Too hot and exhausted to eat or drink, we found a gelato stand which made their own waffle cones and headed back home.