Capri

I feel tan!  YAY and no burn.

I miss my partners in crime, however this is not a place for that sort of debauchery.  The Amalfi Coast is the epitome of grandeur and romance.  It’s an absolute necessity to have a partner in company to experience this.  I’m glad I have Kelly.  I know she’ll always be around to reminisce.

Boat ride to Capri

There was a mad rush to get on to the boat.  Rooftop seating was already taken so I let everyone go in front of me.  I’ve officially lost my edge.  Wobbly tourists meandered about the boat with an intoxicated stager to shoot the perfect scenery.  No one (including myself) has their sea legs.  I haven’t had my old balance since my surgery.  I had the urge to water ski off the back of this boat.  It was a pretty decent size but the wake that it put out was perfect to weave in and out of.  I can’t wait to try it again -

Playlist: A selection of Radiohead, new and old.  Radiohead isn’t a frequent choice of mine but it came on during shuffle.  The eerie and whimsical chords matched the emotional context of the mountains.  Unspoiled splendor dotted with ancient civilizations turned modern, graced the cliffs.  It really puts things into perspective for me.  One human is nothing in this universe.

The weather was super hazy and hot.  It was still gorgeous and didn’t matter.  However, it did prevent the water from gleaming to it’s full potential.  As we headed west to Capri, there were multiple controlled burns that billowed into the landscape.  If I had to describe the landscape, it’s a mix of Ireland’s greenery (which I’ve never seen), the Palisade cliff’s ruggedness, the Oregon coastline, and St. Lucian blue green water.  

MORE PHALLIC SYMBOLS.

A nice elderly gentleman with a huge Nikon D300 asked me to snap a photo of him and his wife.  I took 3 and all were great.  I assumed he could reciprocate and handle my dinky D40 but he totally blew it.  No creative eye at all.  HA

We ended making friends with the couple.  They were on holiday from Canada and extremely pleasant to talk to.

When we reached Capri, we got a brief tour of the green and white grotto.  Our boat was way too large to explore the blue grotto.  I was OK with it.  The water was incredible and pictures can’t do this sight justice.  My camera conveniently decided to stop working just when we reached the more impressive green grotto.  What the heck!  I asked Mr. Canada to see if he could lend a helping hand and he admitted he knew nothing about photography...It worked shortly after.

Our next stop was this place:

We went under.  Faraglione di Mezzo.  As a kid, I always stared at it’s picture at my grandma’s house.  Gram, I made it!!  Wish you were here with me :(

On arrival, we “docked.”  This involved nosing into a cemented area and briskly walking down a moving plank.  The young handled it well, but it proved to be quite a challenge for the elderly.  There were a few restaurants and a rocky beach but we went for a hike up the mountain.  The flowers were beautiful; succulents, the weird ones I don’t know the names of, lemon trees.

We explored an awesome winding pathway that over looked the coast.  We were in beach mode considering we were both dripping with sweat.  This was no simple hike!  I like to think both of us are in pretty good shape despite all the delicious food we’ve been consuming.  We found a beach that was down about 150 steps.  It was private and cost about 10 euros for a beach chair.  We both decided that was ridiculous and were forced to trek back up.  Shit.  We were exhausted. 

After going back and forth what to do, it was recommended to us that we explore Annacapri, the other side of the island.  I hailed a cab in the middle of the street.  Finally a familiarity!  This taxi was well worth the money. 

It looked like a convertible hearse with a linen sun cover.  Our driver was considerate of tourism and stopped and showed us a few panoramic sites.  Breathtaking, but nothing compared to what was next.  When we got to Annacapri, we found this personal tram that takes you - to somewhere.  Neither of knew, but there was a round trip ticket and a one way...

The security on this thing was a single bar, hardly to the standards of Six Flags.  The views were breathtaking.  A whole overview of the island.  We still didn’t know where it was going until we reached the summit of the island.  This place is single handedly the most beautiful place that I’ve ever been.  It was a 360 degree view of life itself.  There was a trail that went down and if I wasn’t wearing my JCrew strappy sandals that were prone to skidding, I would have hiked a bit.                                       




    


After determining that this was our favorite place, we tore ourselves away and headed back down the mountain. 

We found the most amazing hand crafted sandal store.  We were both ecstatic about this find.  The shop keeper was ... friendly and gave us some good prices.  I told him I’d make him famous in New York.  Haha, sucker.  However there was one time that I was at Henry Bendell’s on 5th and their was a custom shoe maker there.  Maybe one day.  Career: Importer of shoe craftsmen?    

website: sandaloocaprese.it 

We found our way to a tucked away trattoria with a garden.  GREAT atmosphere and food.  We were pretty much the only people in there and the staff was extremely friendly.  I’m so impressed with my pronunciations and ordering abilities.  Kelly ordered pasta with clams and I got some sea creature meal with pasta.  Both looked like they were prepared in the same sauce.  Here’s a before and after picture:

Before 

and 

After 

We waited a very long time for the bus that never came so we took a cab back to Marina Piccola.  We parked ourselves on the rocky beached filled with Americans and tourists.  SHUT UP.  Stop living the stereotype.  They were loud, obnoxious, self conscious, and uneasy walking on the stones.  I napped, played, found some great sea glass, and jumped off a rock.  Hurray for fun!

The water was great, but salty.  It wasn’t unbearable to hang on the rocks.  They just left imprints on your body that subsided quickly.

When waiting for the boat, there was another mad rush.  I cracked a few jokes and the people were unhumoured.  They must have all been French.  Bastards.  The return trip home was great.  We had a litre of pinot grigio from the wine store in Venice.  We shared it and joked. 

Ciao Capri!