the isle of Capri

Another amazing day - is all this rapture getting dull yet? This morning Bruce and I walked down down down to the port and took the ferry to Capri. There, we got tickets for the boat tour around the island which included the famous Blue Grotto. An amazing experience - hoards of men waiting in rowboats to take four passengers each to the tiny hole in the rock face - you have to lie back in the boat as the boatman pulls you through, and then there you are in the grotto, in the pitch dark with the water glowing turquoise - the sun reflecting off the rocks and through the water.

You paddle around a bit while another boatman sings, and then you squeeze through the tiny hole and are reborn, back in the world and the light and rowing back to the bigger boat to finish the tour.

The boatman suggested that a tip might be in order. I gave him a euro because he didn't sing.

The tour continued around this extremely rocky island of treacherous cliffs - including one spot where apparently the Roman emperor Tiberius liked to throw off his enemies.

And then back to the tiny town of Capri for lunch - too expensive for a chunky pizza, but a wonderful view of the water. Then the funicular up to the rest of the town above, and from there, a tiny bus to Anacapri, an even smaller town on the other side of the island. There, we got the chairlift to the very top for a spectacular view of the whole island, the Bay of Naples, Vesuvius.

And eventually, back down, down, down, to get the ferry home - my back pocket was full of tickets by the end of the day - ferry, boat tour, funicular, bus, chair lift, ferry. Our ride back, we were surrounded with an enormous crowd of American students studying in Rome who were the noisiest ever, far more than Italians. Made me feel old and crabby. But not too crabby after a stunning day on Capri.