Un Viaggio a Capri

Our day in Capri started with a walk down to la spiaggia... it was a beautiful morning but the sun was hot.  The tickets to Capri were about 22€ and we took the 10am ferry to the main harbor in Capri (pronounces CAH- pree). The port of Capri was super crowded with tourists, so we booked right away an island tour by boat (it was only €2 and 30 minutes more than the blue grotto tour so why not) to go around the island. I didn’t see the blue grotto last time I visited so that was definitely on my list. 

The island is this crazy tall rock formation sticking out of the ocean with rock arches and cliffs everywhere. Mount Vesuvius was visible above the haze across the bay. We rode by these amazing houses along the cliffs, including Casa Malaparte, which brought me back to architecture school, when we snuck onto the property to see it. It looked a little forgotten perched above the ocean. We also passed Tiberius’ cave where he would throw people off of the cliff into the oceans.

Sculpture at the end of the island

Tiberius’ cave right below his ancient villa

Looks like the Madonna inside this grotto

Cada Malaparte

At the end of the island there was a rock arch that we sailed through that is the symbol of Capri. On the opposite side of the island, we passed a big group of boats gathered around the grotta azzurra. We stopped for a minute just to find out that there were 12 boats in front of us and we had to wait 2.5 hours to get into the grotto. There were only 10 of us that wanted to wait for the grotto so they decided to drive us back to the port and those who wanted to visit the grotto could go separately on the same ticket. My mom was lukewarm to the idea but I was committed, so I talked her into it.

Vesuvius in the distance

So on a separate smaller boat we headed back to the grotto and bobbed in the water outside the cave for about an hour until the rowboat gondoliers came to pick us up. It was €14 to go inside the grotto, and you are only inside for a few minutes. But the blue is really captivating. It’s simply the sunlight reflecting off of the sand below but the rock above you is blue and the water is electric blue. The mouth of the cave is really low and you have to lie down in the boat in order to get through it, between waves. I would say totally worth it. 

Sardines in the floor of the rowboat

After the grotto, we headed back to the port and bought tickets for the funicular to go up to Capri city (we didn’t travel to Anacapri, the other city on the island). The city is super touristic and way overpriced (our gelato was €4.50!) but nice to walk through the narrow streets and window shop. Some of the ceramic plates and dinner sets were amazing, hand painted and sculptural.

My mom says I always make this face

We took the funicular back down to the port and got on the hydrofoil for Positano. From there we had to walk up all of the steps of the vertical city to our hotel. It was quite an exhausting trip after walking around Capri for the afternoon. 

Positano in the afternoon

We hung at the hotel for the evening and then Angel, Michael, Nicole and I headed to dinner at a cute little spot down the hill. The “sidewalk” seating was across the street but basically in the street. It was delicious, another family style meal we had with bruschetta, ravioli, eggplant Parmesan (much less breaded than we are used to) and some pasta with tomato sauce. It was delicious and as we were eating a band walked by and set up right in front of our table. They had some percussion, a clarinet, an accordion, and guitar, and they were all singing. Of course, about 150 steep steps stiff between us and bed but it was a great end to a long busy day!