Capri

The evening in Positano was as close to perfect as I could have imagined.  The ride in, the scenery, the boat, the food, the hotel.  Everything had just fallen perfectly into place in what really was an incredible place.  We didn't stay up too late though because we wanted to experience as much as we could.  We didn't have a huge amount of time in this region, so we arranged to go to the island of Capri for a day trip.

We woke up early and walked down the stairs of Positano to the pier.  From there, we waited with the other bleary eyed tourists for our ferry to Capri.  It arrived late, and when it did, dozens of eager day trippers disembarked to see Positano.  It's noticeable that during the day, there are far more people in the town than in the evenings.  Most people seem to come in and just visit these areas during the day and then head back to other areas for the evening.  Given the price of accommodation here, it didn't surprise me at all.

We got on the ferry and we were soon in Capri.  The ferry journey is only about 45 minutes, and the views of the Amalfi coastline are alone worth that trip.  Entering into the small harbour in Capri, we could see the small buildings and the imposing hill at the centre of the island.  It was all very pretty, but so far, the view from the ocean of Positano was far more spectacular.

We followed the crowds off the boat and decided that the first thing we would do would be to go and find another boat!  We had read that the quickest and most picturesque way of seeing the island was through the numerous boat tours available.  At the beginning of the pier/harbour area, there were companies all set up offering a variety of different tour types.  We didn't want to be stuck on the boat all day, so we settled on the shorter Blue Grotto tour.

The Blue Grotto is an ocean cave that can only be entered via small row boats.  It is famed for its beauty and the intense blue colour of the water as much as it is for the the unique way you enter.  I wasn't particularly fascinated or excited about going, but this was close to the top of the list of things that Veronica wanted to do on the this trip.  I was more than happy go along as well on that basis.  The tour boat took us along the coast from the harbour to the other side of the island where the Blue Grotto was.  Once we were there, we had to line up!  About a dozen other large boats of various sizes were waiting their turn for the men in the row boats to come and pick up their passengers.  There was a politeness amongst all involved and the organised chaos seemed to involve an informal line which all the boat captains kept track of.  Several times, the row boat captains (are they still captains of a row boat?) came to our boat and our captain sent them off to boats which had arrived before us.  Eventually it was our turn.  Each one of the row boats could fit 4 extra passengers and the oarsman (I think a better way to describe them) took us off to another larger boat which collected toll from us before we started towards the grotto itself.  At €14 per person along with a tip at the end for the oarsman, it was by now means cheap, but I learnt long ago from an older and wiser colleague that when you're on a holiday, just pay the ticket price.  You never when you'll be back or if you'll be back at all, so embrace the opportunities as they arrive.

Entering into the Blue Grotto was a famous part of the experience.

As we approached, the oarsman told us all to lie down on the floor of the boat, as he grabbed the chains which had been bolted to the roof of the cave and dragged us in.

Once we were inside, the oarsman took us on two loops of the large expanse inside.

There were probably ten other boats circling inside the cave and it was a beautiful spectacle to see.  The water was as clear and blue as advertised, but the entrance seemed to drag in the day light, making the entire water seemingly glow.  There was an almost an ethereal quality to it, like something from a fantasy story as the light shone out of the water, illuminating the cave in a delicate blue light.

By the second loop, our eyes had already adjusted to this dark cave and the light of the water seemed to become even more vibrant.  The pictures cannot capture the movement or the atmosphere of this two short circles we did of the cave.  The oarsman all sang inside, the passengers laughed and gasped, occasionally we heard a splash as someone decided to jump in for a swim.  It was a great time and Veronica's eyes were wide with wonder and joy for the entirety of our stay. 

Once we were all out, we found ourselves back on our larger boat and headed out back towards the harbour (a mistake we later decided, as we should have taken the opportunity to be dropped off by one of the small boats at the area next to the grotto).  One poor girl didn't have her sea legs and had been sick whilst in the smaller boats.  The choppy trip back did her no extra favours.

We were hungry though, and we wanted to enjoy more of the beautiful waters of Capri.  So when we reached the harbour, we took the funicular straight up to the middle of the island to where the town of Capri was situated.  We walked through the picturesque town relatively quickly and not looking anywhere near closely enough at anything, stopping only very briefly to buy a very overpriced (but pretty) hat for Veronica from one of the boutiques.  We had our plans set, and we wanted to go to the famous beach club, Lo Scoglio della Sirena.  Veronica had seen the pictures of this beach club, with its restaurant and beach chairs jutting out into the craggy rocks in the ocean.  It was certainly picturesque, but we had to be quick to get our spot.  We arrived to see lines formed, which immediately made our hearts dropped.  As we got closer, we saw people seemed to be waiting and lingering.  They weren't going in even though there was space.  We walked closer and asked the waiter if we could be seated.  He asked "drinks or lunch"?  In this location, we wanted to sit an eat so we wanted lunch.  He smiled and pulled us through the others and took us straight to one of the open tables. 

This was an exclusive beach club and restaurant.  It immediately made sense to us why we were allowed straight in.  Most others probably only wanted to stop by for a drink and a photo, so the restaurant prioritised patrons like us who were looking to stay for longer (and to spend more ultimately).  Even for the beach chairs, they asked us if we wanted to reserve them.  Since we were eating here, we were immediately afforded with the benefit of chairs being set aside for us.  The prices were indeed very high for Italy, but the food we had was also a highlight.  Intensely fresh local lobster, cooked with deeply flavourful Italian tomatoes with pasta is a hard combination to beat.  Eating this, with a glass of wine with a view overlooking the water, was this one of the highlights of my life to date?  It would be hard to argue with that.

Everything about this beach club felt perfect to us.  The water was clear and turquoise.  The weather was warm.  The skies were clear.  Like all of Italy, there was an infectious upbeat mood here.  From the staff through to the tourists, it seemed that everyone was universally feeling happy.  I couldn't blame them at all.  We sat and ate and drank and just soaked in where we were.

After we had finished eating and drinking, we decided to move over the the beach chairs and to swim.  We had a few hours we wanted to spend here and we ended up swimming three of four times.  We would go from the chairs to the water and back again.  Each time we lifted our heads, we could see off into the distance, towards laughing faces, green hills, blue waters.  Veronica had cleverly packed our goggles with us, so we dived deep into the waters from the rocks, chasing after the colourful fish which dashed between the swimmers.  One small brightly coloured fish decided that the skin of my feet was the perfect meal, and as I sat on the rocks with my legs in the water, I could see and feel it nibbling at my big toe.  Veronica looked at it and was convinced that it was a type of tasty fish her dad liked.  

A few hours passed very quickly.  The migration back and forth between the water and the chairs was fun, but I could have easily spent an entire day doing this.  It was time to go though.  We wanted to have at least a few hours left to explore the town of Capri before we headed back on the ferry to Positano. 

Back at the top of the island in the town, one of the first things we did was to get one of the lemon granitas with the splash of fresh orange juice.  The simple stand was near the top of the funicular.  We were both thirsty and this seemed to be the most touristy thing to do.  We got the cup to share, and after one sip, we lined back up to get another one.  Neither of us wanted to share.  It was such a simple thing, but the quality of both the lemons and the oranges just gave it an additional punch that we didn't expect.  How we perceive food and drink is very often impacted by our surroundings, so maybe we were just being pulled into the surroundings.  Whatever the reason, I wanted my own.

The town of Capri itself was well worth the extra time spent.  Like the other parts of the island we had visited, we could have happily spent far more time.  The town was perfectly manicured.  It was the representation and example of what a rich mediterranean town should look like.  The streets neatly paved, the shops all luxurious and expensive, the flowers in bloom, all the tourists looking chic.

Growing up in Australia, there had always been this tendency to name things after all things Capri.  Locations, styles, foods.  There was often this attempt to add a level of Italian glamour to things by adding some word association with Capri.  It never made much sense to me then, and it was only now after having visited this place that I understood more why it was done.  It was an attempt to link their own far less glamourous offerings with this idyllic island, but I did wonder whether there really was much point to it all?  I could see it all now, but this was such an exclusive place.  So few people really ever came and saw what this was all about, so how would it be that the name itself would ever evoke the feelings those marketers were trying to convey?  You after all cannot think of something you have never thought of before.

We made our way back to the harbour and then onto the ferry back to Positano.  It wasn't too late, so we would find a nice place to have dinner.  I wanted to come back to Capri.  There was more I wanted to see, and having walked its streets, I wanted to enjoy the place in the evening when the day trippers like myself were gone.  There would be a different atmosphere to everything and I wanted to experience it myself.