Day 9: Capri

We woke excited for our day trip. We could see through our roof that the weather was perfect, so dressed in our bathing suits, shorts, SPF, and packed the day pack with fruit, camera, towels and books. Luigi was nowhere to be seen, so we slipped out and down the road to the abandoned medieval convent on the hill that was our pick up location. Or driver Gaitano was right on time, and we jumped in his car to the harbour, picking up a friendly Belgian couple along the way called Meesh and Bande. We stared longingly at their hotel, as they loaded in their bags. They politely asked where we were staying, and Matt replied 'in an old man's spare room.' Priceless.

We got to the sun drenched harbor and into an eight seater boat where we met our captain, Nando. Ferdinando. His dad owned the boat company and this was his summer job, taking tourists for day tours of Capri. Um, yes please.


We got out on the choppy sea and went along the cliffs and under a small waterfall that emptied into the clear blue water. We then settled in for the half hour trip across the bay. Once there, Nando pointed out the site atop Capri where Roman emperor Tiberius had his palaces, and I have to hand it to the man, he had a good eye for real estate. The grey cliffs started in jagged points that plunged straight down into turquoise water with coral clinging to the edges near the surface.

Our little boat went all the way around the island, dipping into the famous Green and White grottos, essentially small caves in the cliff sides. We stopped for a swim and a snack - courtesy of Nando's mum, some homemade fingerfood, meats, cheese, olives and fresh fruit, and a delicious limoncello.

The water was crystal clear and the perfect temperature. Matt strapped on some of the supplied scuba goggles and dove down to peer at the local wildlife. I splashed around for a few minutes too, and then took the opportunity to soak in some of the ample vitamin D. Eventually it was time to move on, and we quickly dried off as Nando brought us around to Marina Piccola. We clambered off the boat -- I think Matt was grateful for some solid land-- and spent three hours on the beautiful island of Capri. I gladly would have spent weeks. It was an odd combination of high-end retail boutiques, low-end souvenir stores, ancient buildings and tacky fast food stalls.

The bus ride from the marina up to the town of Capri was an adventure in itself. Buses literally scraped each other as they ascended the numerous hairpin turns and narrow cliff side-passes. We could hear and feel the jolts and scrapes as we passed, and noticed the years worth of battle scars along the side when we got off at the top. We decided we would somehow walk the journey back.

We picked our way through the crowds, photographing various sights that we figured must be famous and would google when we got home. We found a pasticceria (the restaurants are eye-wateringly expensive) and bought a quiche, salad and cannolo for dessert. After a roughly standard number of wrong turns we found our way to the Giardini Di Agosto - beautifully designed gardens at the top of the cliff that overlooked the sea, and the giant rocks rising out of it. Next to one of the fountains was a beautiful marble bench seat where we unpacked and enjoyed our little picnic, until the smokers came. Time to move on.

Several snaps and selfies later we had worked our way through the gardens to the via Krupp, a winding path which works its way down from the gardens almost to the waters edge. We each claimed for ourselves several of the properties embedded in the hill side, incredible views from the rooftop decks. We continued wandering until we reached the marina piccola. Nando was to pick us up in about 20 minutes, so we had a quick paddle about in the bay and then Matt bought a postcard to send his mum for her birthday (Happy Birthday, Loretta!). --quick picture break--

The Augusto Gardens

View from the clifftop inside the Augusto Gardens

Looking down upon the winding Via Krupp

We chated to our boat friends in the marina while we we waited for Nando to pull up so we could climb aboard once more. We took a few more snaps as we putted away, and then Matt and I both fished out our books and settled in on the front of the boat. The boats and superyachts anchored around this place were incredible. There was one which had unfurled an inflatable VIP-style pool deck and enclosure into the water behind it. Private ocean section ??

We were expertly guided around the island to the outside of the blue grotto and then we made course for Massa Lubrense.

Tired after our busy day of lazing on the boat, we elected for a dinner close to home and ventured to the nearby restaurant 'One Fire'. The eponymous restaurant was started by the patriarch (don't ask where the nickname came from), and his wife, daughters and son-in-law all share kitchen and serving duties. We had stopped by earlier to check the menu, and the place was empty. After getting cleaned up and changed, we returned only to be asked if we had a reservation. Um no, but we didn't really see why they cared. Anyway, we found a table on the deck and perused the menu.

I ordered a white wine, and Matt stuck with water. Along with some delicious appetizers (on the house) they promptly brought me a bottle of the house white. My rudimentary Italian was good enough to request 'una bicchiera' instead of the bottle. They returned  with the biggest glass of wine I've ever seen, we were sure they'd just poured in the whole bottle! Very generous, Signor One Fire.

In due course our plates arrived, which were quite good, if a little on the small side. We hadn't noticed people arriving but by the end of our meal every table was occupied. I guess reservations may have been warranted. Matt helped me finish off the last of the wine and we settled up before heading home. We snuck in while Luigi was still out watching a soccer game, and managed to exploit an open wifi network to catch up on a few emails before killing the lights and more than a few persistent 'skeeters.

Going back in time tomorrow as we check out the ruins of Pompeii, Herculaneum and also trek up Mt Vesuvius.