Day 20

We sailed to the island of Capri today. After another large and beautiful breakfast, we went out in search of the ferry by which we were instructed to travel. The hotel has an elevator that goes from the bottom floor all the way down the cliffside to the beach below. The walk was enjoyable, although a few stops for directions were necessary. Nanny bought a shawl to keep the sun off her arms, as she is now a rather brown color and constantly complains of sunburn. We sat atop the boat and were windblown and chilly by the time we finally reached the shores of our destination, despite our usage of the shawl as a blanket. The coast was lined with little shops and restaurants. As we exited the ferry, people were lining up to attend tours of the island. Nanny decided that we would take a railcar up the incline to a higher place on a mountainside. We soon found that the shops there contains similar, or in some cases exactly the same, items that can easily be found back in Sorrento, but here they were charging double and triple the price. The shawl that Nanny had paid five Euros for was being sold here for ten and fifteen. Despite all of this the town did provide us with lovely window shopping and a breathtaking view, as well as some decent gelato. From this point we took a bus to the area known as Anacapri, where we did more window shopping. Sandals I had seen in gift shops near the hotel for thirty Euros were now being displayed in windows and storefronts for sixty, and even eighty. The plan from there was to take a bus to something called Grotto Azzurra, which we did. These busses climb the mountains through roads made of hairpin turns. On the occasion that another bus or car needed to pass us we slowed down a little and I swear if I had stuck my pinky finger out of the window I might have lost it on a sideswipe. We got off on the edge of a cliff and had to climb three or four flights of stairs before we were informed that the grotto was closed for the day. I did go down that extra flight to take a few pictures anyway. The water here is so blue you would think the people must have dyed it that way. Back on the bus and another cringe worthy ride or two and we were finished with the island of Capri. Although stunningly beautiful and fun for tourists, I do believe that I like the Sorrento area much better. We ate after we had gotten off the ferry and had a small and embarrassing communication issue over silverware and did a little shopping to finish up the day. On our way in we had a little trouble calling the elevator down. Some guy sweeping the sidewalk instructed Nanny to “push push push push the but-ton” in order to alert someone in the hotel to bring the elevator down. His enthusiasm did nothing to ease our full bladders and when the elevator finally did open its doors we were rather relieved. Tomorrow is regroup day, when we will attempt to fit all of our treasures into our suitcases without squishing, breaking, smashing, destroying, or killing any of our new or old possessions.
This is the grotto from above. Look at that water!








Here is more info on the blue grotto and some pictures from inside
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Grotto