Monday, June 18, 2012

The land of goats... Otherwise known as Capri!

June 12, 2012

Fun fact: In Italian, 'Capra' means one goat, and 'Capri' means more than one goat... hence the name, "The land of goats".  We did in fact see some goats along the coastline, but Capri should not be known for its goats, but for its amazing beauty!
One of the many goats that we saw!

We decided to take a group boat tour to the famous Island on Capri. We were very glad that we did this and decided not to go on a huge ferry with no direction as to what anything was. We booked through Blue Star as it was given to us by a local on the beach. It was a great suggestion and the company was super nice and informative!

We left Positano at 9:20 in the morning. We headed up the coast towards the Sorrento peninsula, and towards the back side of Capri. Unbelievable yet again! Capri is a small island, with lots of character. Huge cliffs that you would never imagine lie in front of every way that you look. We saw the white grotto, the emerald grotto, and the outside of the entrance of the blue grotto. In order to see the blue grotto , you would have had to pay an extra 13 euro a person, wait in a very long line, and get into a super small boat to see things that we had basically already seen. It was a definite tourist trap!!
 One of the many grottos that we saw.

 T and I in the entrance of one of the grottos.  There were huge caves everywhere we turned!
 
We moved past the blue grotto quickly and our captain took us through an interesting looking rock formation. The boat went under and into the center of the rock. Legend has it that you are supposed to kiss your loved one under the rock for many years of love to come... We did!! So cute!
 Yes, we went inside that little opening!

T on the boat ride to Capri.

Looking at the Capri Port that would be our next stop.

After our three hour, bumpy boat ride, we finally arrived to the Port of Capri.  We met a lovely couple aboard or boat, honeymooners as well, and we decided to have lunch with them.  T finally got some Italian pizza, and we shared some pesto pasta.  I completely forget the name of the Ristorante that we went to, but it was right off of the Port and it actually had pretty reasonable prices! 

After filling our bellies, we decided to take the Funicular (kind of like a cable car), to the top of Capri.  There are two towns in Capri, one being actual Capri and one being Anacapri.  Since we only had 4 hours on the island, we decided against going to Anacapri, and took the short ride up the hill to actual Capri.  However, after learning from some others on the boat, we kind of wished that we had taken the extra time to get to Anacapri.  Supposenly, you can take a chairlift to the very tip top of the mountain, and the view is incredible.  Not that we didn't see incredible views, we most definitely did! 
The Funicular... For friends that are going to Capri it is only 1.80 Euro a person, super easy to get to.  When you get to the port of Capri, just go right and you will see the entrance.  You have to go a little behind you to get tickets for the ride.
T and I at the top of the Funicular, overlooking the Port of Capri.


The Funicular dropped us off in the city center of Capri.  There were lots of shops, gelaterias, ristorantes, and more very expensive stores that we glanced at as we passed by.  
 Walking through all of the shops.

We wandered around the city center for a while, and finally wandered over to the backside of the beautiful island.  And boy, were we so glad that we stumbled upon this area! We found a garden to enter, and we were not expecting to find what we saw! The garden, Giardini di Augusto, was only 1 euro a person, so we decided to investigate the area.  The views were unbelievable! The rock formations standing in the various spots in the ocean were amazing! Each way we turned, there was a picture opportunity!  T found his artistic creativity and decided to take many pictures in various ways! Every way that we looked was as if you were staring at a postcard, we had to pinch ourselves to make sure that it was real.  Here are some of the pictures that we took.




 
After spending a good amount of time in this area, we realized that we had to hurry back down the Funicular, and back to our boat for our journey to Positano.  When we got to the Funicular, we were kind of in a panic because we didn't realize how many other people were also trying to get back down to the port.  Tick tock, tick tock... time kept ticking and we were in fear that they were going to leave us.  But finally, it was our turn to get on the Funicular, and head back down the mountain.  Briskly, we walked back to our boat, and really we were only a few minutes late.  I kept forgetting that in Italy, they are really not on a specific time schedule, they are very laid back, relaxed, and just go with the flow.  So, we were really not late in Italian time.

Having a long day of exploring, we were very tired when we got back to the boat and were looking forward to a nice boat ride back.  T was getting very anxious and wanted to jump into the water.  When we signed up for the boat ride, T was sold when the captain said that there would be a stop on the way back for people to get in the water and snorkel around.  We suddenly came to another grotto and got very close.  Was this the place where he was going to let people swim? I was definitely out, but T was definitely in! 

Coming to the grotto...where T would later swim....

He was so happy when another person on our boat said that they also wanted to get in and have a look.  T quickly jumped up, prepared to get in, and jumped in the water.

T putting on his snorkel, ready to go exploring.


Swimming into the grotto...very scary to me! 

Swimming farther in...

After about 30 minutes, T and his new friend got back on the boat, and described how amazing their little swim was.  We then headed back to Positano, for the conclusion of our wonderful day trip to Capri.

Getting a little shut-eye, after a long day!



View of Positano on our way back

The town that we fell in love with!

Do you see those stairs that are going up the side of the mountain in the distance? Yes, that is the stairs that we took every day and night to get to our hotel. Our hotel included amazing views, and an amazing workout, free of charge! 



2 comments:

  1. Incredible! Thanks for the travel guide tips :) They are greatly appreciated.

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  2. The wait to see your pictures was well worth it! Looks like you had an amazing time on your honeymoon. I love how detailed your post have been. They have managed to get your dad somewhat excited about a future trip across the pond! Keep them coming. xoxo

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