Capri

With time running short we wanted to maximise what we could see. And to select which options to take and which to leave. Unfortunately, we had to give up on seeing Pompeii. A real pity but we elected to go to Capri instead. We could have done a day trip and spent another night in Sorrento. We decided to look at other options and found that we could get a boat to Capri and one back from their to Positano or Amalfi.

After ringing around we found a place in a little town walking distance from Amalfi. This was going to mean we got to see more...including seeing Positano and Amalfi from the sea.

Anyway, Capri. A mad place. I described it to Mel at one point as a wanna-be Monaco. There are many rich tourists and many jewellery shops and the like. And few people actually overnight there. Still, it's very pretty. Very green and quite rugged. That is there are quite high hills with sharp cliffs around the flatter towns of Capri and Anacapri. Capri island is famous for it's blue grotto. We knew that this would be overpriced but having missed out on seeing Croatia's blue grotto we kind of had to check it out.

We caught the bus to the grotto although many people take a boat from the port. When you arrive you are confronted by a sea full of little boats (holding 4-6 people plus the captain(?)). There are bigger boats further out that are loading up the little boats. The little boats also collect people from the shore. When you board the boat you are taken across to another boat that's set up to collect the cash. It's only then that you find out that it's over 8 Euro each. Too late then! To get into the grotto you have to go through a hole that is not much wider than the boat. You have to lie flat in the boat whilst the captain times his entrance. The swell is quite large at times with some swells completely filling the hole. There's another guy in a boat directing all this traffic. When the time is right you lie down in the boat whilst your driver pulls you through the hole using a rope as leverage. Once inside it is quite spectacular. The colour of the water is an amazingly bright blue from the light outside. Getting out again is just as much fun. A big swell blocked the entrance just before we were due to go out. All part of the adventure.

We caught the ferry at about 5pm and Positano is as pretty (or more so) than the pictures you may have seen. Amalfi was not much to look at though. We found the hostel that we were staying at. More about that in the next blog.