Deciding not to go on the boat tour meant that we could head over to Villa Jovis, and by head over, I mean up. Villa Jovis is the second highest point in Capri, but unlike the highest, Monte Solaro, there isn't a chairlift. It is the remains of a palace built by the Roman emperor, Tiberius, in 27 AD. I don't think that it had originally been on our "must-see" list or even a planned destination at all, but Oscar Wilde mentions Tiberius and his palace on Capri in passing in the most plot-less chapter (11) of his not-so-thinly veiled social commentary, The Picture of Dorian Gray, so I decided that we should go and my mother decided to indulge this whim.
She probably regretted that decision as when we got halfway through our 90 minute walk to the summit. Actually, she told me that; she also said that if I rushed through looking at the ruins, she would throw me off the cliff like Tiberius apparently did to his wives.
Clearly I was not thrown off the cliff. The ruins were very cool -- I'm not really sure why Tiberius felt the need to make this specific location his home, especially when it was practically unaccessible and he apparently had twelve other smaller castles on the island, but we went, we saw and we conquered. I think we might have been more excited by it all if we a) weren't completely exhausted and b) weren't going to see all sorts of ruins in Rome, but Rome won't give us an incredible panoramic view of Capri, so there's that.
The walk back down was not nearly as treacherous and took less than half the time as well. We got lunch and then a lemon slush for dessert (because lemons are a big deal here). During lunch, we spent a little time debating what we should do next -- should we take the bus to Marina Piccola and go to the beach or go look for another boat tour? I voted for the beach and because I'm equal parts logical and obnoxious, my mom agreed.
Someone, somewhere along the way decided that Marina Piccola was where Ulysses was apparently seduced by the sirens and I can see why -- I actually think it seduced my mom as well because she didn't want to leave and is now saying that she is never going to leave Capri at all. When we got there, we decided to rent chairs and sit on the private side of the beach because we hate co-habitating with the unwashed masses (plus we didn't have any chairs or towels of our own and this simplified things).
Susan wasn't feeling the beach at first, mostly because it was a rock beach and not a sand beach. I must admit, rock beaches are a lot more painful than their traditional counterparts, but that doesn't usually deter me. Once we'd found our spot, I practically had to drag her into the water -- the crystal clear water, the absolutely perfectly beautiful, crystal clear water. I think it's sort of sad when sea water looks clearer than your swimming pool at home, but that is what we were dealing with. We were pretty graceless getting in (it goes back to that whole rock beach thing, because hot rocks and slippery rocks are not conducive to walking and we had both) but after that, things were glorious.
The really crazy thing about the water was that you couldn't tell how deep it was. At one point, we swam all of the way out to the edge of the swimming area and we could still see the bottom; the only way I knew was if my feet were touching the ground. Also, I naturally sink. One time, Whitney told me that her superpower was buoyancy and since I'm made of lead, I would actually believe that, but in the Mediterranean, you float, so that was another new and exciting experience for me.
My mom also has this thing about collecting sand from the different beaches we've visited, but since this was a rock beach, it meant hunting for the perfect rocks to bring home. (Rocks are clearly not practical souvenirs, but as long as they don't have to go in my suitcase, I'm ok with it). I also went looking for sea shells because they're shiny and much easier to carry than ya know, rocks.
I can't tell you how long we spent at the beach because I honestly don't know. We went from the early afternoon until they were closing up, but it was too relaxing to worry about the time!
"Neh-ver lee-ving" -- Susan Jaffe
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