Capri so far

What has happened to us on Capri so far? I'm glad you asked.

This morning, we got up early and ready to start our day. I put on a thick layer of SPF 900 because I think the only thing worse than getting a sunburn on vacation would be Hell itself and it is hot and sunny here. 

We took the bus to the Grotta Azzurra (Blue Grotto) this morning at 8 in our on-going attempt to not deal with crowds and that was a great plan, except that tours didn't start there until 9. Faced with that, we decided to get back on the bus and return to our hotel for some breakfast. After breakfast it was back to the Blue Grotto, which was then open for business. 

I'd like to take a moment to state that we were not the only people who didn't realize that they weren't open until 9 and that we couldn't find any signage to assist us figure out what the hours were until we hunted through one of our guide books -- laboring over every word and sentence -- where we found the answer hiding in like size 0 font. 

When we returned, things were booming -- while it had been a ghost town at 8, a few hours made all the difference because there were charter boats were floating outside the Grotto and about 2 dozen canoes were vipping back and forth to take tourists inside. 

So a "grotto" is defined as a small, picturesque cave, and boy, was the entry into this Grotto small. We had to lie down, flat on our backs, to fit through. I wasn't 100% convinced that the boat was even going to fit and with the waves knocking against, I'm actually convinced that I died in that moment.

The revelation that I'd died was probably a pretty common one here, since once inside the Grotto, you saw colors that only a god could have imagined. Those colors would be blue, obviously, but it was the type of blue that makes artists throw away their work because they'll never truly be able to capture something so perfect. It's the sun's reflection through the seawater that creates this picture for those of you who were wondering about the science behind this.

Because my mom makes friends with EVERYONE, our tour guide from the Blue Grotto is giving us a private ride around the island tomorrow (we're paying him for the charter, of course, but it's way cheaper than what we were planning on paying someone else). He also offered to let us take a quick swim in the Grotto, which is most definitely illegal. Not to implicate my mother in any international crimes, but one of us went in and it wasn't me. 

We then visited the historic center of Anacapri. Susan wanted to visit the various churches and I went along, even though I'm getting close to being churched-out and am saving the last of my stamina for the Vatican. We ate lunch at Ristorante Barbarossa; Barbarossa was apparently a pirate and you could apparently see his castle from the restaurant, but we didn't see it so something is wrong with us or the guidebook. My mom kept saying Barbosa -- sorry, Mom, he isn't real, neither is Jack Sparrow and we're visiting the wrong sea anyways. I ordered pizza (what a surprise!) and unlike everywhere else in Italy and the world, where it is either a small, one-person pizza and/or cut up into slices, this was one giant pie and I was left to fend for myself. Mom and I also split some calamari and it came with these monster lemons that were about the size of apples; they gave us more lemon than squid!

Although we didn't leave Anacapri, we ventured out a little further to visit the Villa San Michele, which was a big house built by this Swedish doctor/author, Axel Munthe, who along with being rather eccentric, probably had some side action going on with the Queen of Sweden. (Although the museum did not confirm nor deny this statement, it was heavily implied from their provided information). So, Axel was an animal lover, a collector of antiquities and obsessed with death and when combined with copious amounts of money these factors will lead to a unique household. At a whopping 327 meters high, this house had glorious views of the entire island and Mt. Vesuvius (this is where Whitney would have taken a panoramic photo if she were here). The best part, however, was Axel's mysterious sphinx statue that looks away from his house. It's apparently impossible to see the face from the property but if you touch it's hindquarters with your left hand and make a wish, that wish will come true. So, yes, Nemo touched the butt and I touched the butt.

After that, we took the chairlift to the top of Monte Solaro. It didn't occur to me until I was on the lift that I don't think I've ever actually been on a real ski lift before and that I don't think I like it. About halfway through the 13-minute ride from the ground to the summit, I started to release my death grip and enjoy myself a little bit. Would I do it again? Well, I had to to get back down, so yes. 

Monte Solaro is the highest point in Capri at 589 meters, meaning that this is the other part of the day where Whitney would have used the panoramic function on her iPhone. It made the view from Axel's house a tid bit insignificant. 

After that, we returned to our hotel. The thing about our hotel is that it has a sister hotel and this sister hotel is like the cooler, older sister that has a swimming pool and a restaurant and who everyone wants to hang out with; since we are staying here, we get a free shuttle to go over there and we decided to take advantage of that. It was glorious; pools are nice even when there are parents yelling the most horrible things at their children (and we heard a lot of screaming and while I'm not sure what the Italian parents were saying, the American parents were pretty ruthless with their kids). Mom was disappointed that the water wasn't warmer, I was disappointed that she barely went in the water with me, but I got to swim and we both got to soak up some sun, so no one was unhappy. (Also, a pool with a view? Epic!). 

Now we are back at our real hotel, where I am celebrating having worn a bikini in public for the first time in like 10 years by eating Oreos and examining my tans lines (I reapplied my SPF 900, which was really SPF 70, at least three times today and I still got some color -- a lot of color, actually). My mom has disappeared in true Susan-fashion and eventually we shall start preparing for our evening activities -- a return trip to our big sister hotel for dinner and the sunset with my mom's intern from work and her family (yeah, Susan has an intern; she's a big deal).