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Wednesday, Jul 11, 2018
Surprise! Cappuccino morning. This is Italy after all.
It was the big cruise day--though on a small boat. We would head to the grand and celebrated island called Capri.
We headed down to the marina and had to wait a while for the tour agency agent, but finally she arrived, the boat was prepped, and we departed. It was a 12-person boat, but only about seven of us were aboard. There was a crew of two: a captain and his assistant, who was probably his son.
The first stop was to another port--and to pick up five more people. We would have a 12-person voyage after all.
We then sailed along the coast for a spell, stopping to check out a waterfall that came down over the sea cliffs. After that, we headed to the secret swimming hole’s outside entrance. It was great to see the same place from a boat’s point of view. The nude sunbathers were gone.
Then it was the long leg over to Capri.
Approaching, we went around the south of the island to see a few things. One was the “Green Grotto,” a grotto with green walls. The island has grottos of several different colors. Boats turn around and get close to these sites so people can view them and take photos. We then sailed through a very large tunnel in the rock. I mean it was large enough for fairly big boats to go through.
One particularly cool thing is just how unbelievably blue the Mediterranean Sea is. The water has this cobalt sapphire blueness that almost seems magical. And the temperature is also perfect.
Next, we sunk anchor and did some swimming. I swam around the boat at first, and then got the snorkel gear so I could swim over to the island--about 100 yards away. Next to the Capri cliffs I could go underwater and see how the cliffs look beneath the sea. One thing’s for sure: it’s very clear down under. The water looks memorizing coming up against the cliffs. Oddly, I didn’t see many fish though. There were some--just not a lot.
Back on board, we sailed over to the port area. It wasn’t a port with docks. We had to wait for a small rubber dingy to ferry us to shore, which was a very slow process as there were many boats doing the same thing. It took some time, but we finally got everyone onto the island.
Everyone on the tour group got lunch at a restaurant which was basically just bread and tomato and cheese--your standard “tour” meal. However, it filled me up. Plus, I had a beer on the boat. Though just one as I didn’t want to get seasick. Learned that lesson from a 2002 ferry crossing to England.
Next, we took bus to the town of Capri. The port area is quite a ways from the town. One “could” walk up, but aside from the distance, the streets have about zero room for pedestrians or even traffic coming the other direction. At the top, we learned that another bus trip was needed to get to the other big town: Anacapri. Yet it was too long of a wait. With these types of tours, a day really just provides time to see one of the towns. The second bus was also too long of a wait. So we explored the first city of Capri.
First we found a place to eat. It was of course overpriced, so I just had overpriced juice (tastes like regular juice, just at a much higher price). The girls had food. It was cappuccinos for Terry and Lesly.
After lunch, we walked along some paths with great views. Every so often, an amazing view just opened up and I took plenty of photos. Sadly, my Canon battery had died and I didn’t have a spare. Thus, it was all iPhone photos at that point. We got some great shots and returned down the pleasant paths.
Back at the town square, the others wanted to shop, but I was for seeing the church instead. So we split up. (Nice thing about modern smartphones is one gets such options.) But alas, the church was closed. And in short time, I bumped into the others. We took another scenic walk and returned to get bus tickets back. Then it was back to the port on the very small road that was smaller than many one-way streets I’ve been on. And it was a two-way street!
We waited for dingy and, in time, got ferried to the boat. We had the chance to swim a bit more but it was just me. I jumped in and swam around the boat a few times. It felt great, but I didn’t want to hold up the others just for me, so I soon exited the water and dried off and we headed out.
We continued to circle around the island. Saw the Blue Grotto and watched others go in