Italy - Capri

Tuesday morning, we checked out of Albergo Settimo Cielo, then headed to Marina Piccola.  We caught the ferry to the island of Capri.  On Capri we got a boat tour around the island that also made a stop at the Blue Grotto.  This was one of the things we were really looking forward to on the trip, and the weather forecast had been iffy.  As I mentioned, we were planning on going Monday, but with the rain, we decided not to risk it.  But we woke up Tuesday to a beautiful morning and everyone said the weather and conditions were perfect.  

Capri

Sea side part of Capri town

Capri marina

As we were deciding between two different boat tours recommended to us, we were approached by "Jack."  He promised us a prime seat if we went on his tour.  Since he promised us a good seat when we bought our tickets, Angela wanted to know his name so she could hold him to his promise.  He told us his name was "Jack" and Angela said, "That's so Italian."  He said, "Well, my real name is Pasquale, but that's probably not so easy for you, so you call me 'Jack'." So, we decided to go on that tour with him and we got those prime seats thanks to "Jack".   

Pasquale a.k.a. Jack

We had to wait an hour  before the boat tour started, but our first stop was the Blue Grotto.  At the Blue Grotto we had to get into a small rowboat.  The entrance to the grotto is very small and all of us had to lay flat in the boat.  In fact the rower had to lay on top of Angela who was laying on top of me until we got through the entrance.  The Blue Grotto was really cool and the water looks like it is glowing blue!  We got back to the tour boat (after having to tip the row man) and finished the tour around Capri.  

Headed to the Blue Grotto

Inside the Blue Grotto

The water is SO blue!

The entrance to the Blue Grotto

On the rest of the tour, we saw the Green Grotto, the White Grotto and Tiberius's Cliff.  Our favorite story is that Tiberius would throw his lovers, and bad cooks off the cliff.  The tour guide said it was a typical Italian divorce, quick and cheap.  After returning to Capri, we caught the ferry back to Sorrento, grabbed our bags from the hotel, and headed to the train station. There caught the commuter train (this time there was no drama) to Naples and then the quick train back to Rome.  

Capri Island watch tower

Lighthouse on Capri

Green Grotto

Us on the tour boat

Faraglioni

Anacapri

Snake road

Lovers Arch

Elephant Rock

White Grotto

White Grotto stalagmite of Virgin Mary

Tiberius's Cave

Lovers Beach

Tiberius's Cliff

Capri Island welcome statue

We slept Tuesday night, our last night in Italy, in the same Marriott we began our trip at.  They were great, inexpensive accommodations (thanks Sarah!), and they had a shuttle to the airport.  For dinner, we ate in the restaurant in the Marriott.  Angela had bucatini all'amatriciana and Josh had some dish I can't remember the name but it was lamb and pasta in a non-tomato based sauce.  It was very good. 

We flew home on Wednesday morning. The flight home was somewhat uneventful. Our shuttle dropped us off in Terminal 3, so we had to walk to Terminal 5 (with a short tram ride) but we left with plenty of time, and besides stamping our passport, with little obstacles.  After 9-10 hours on the plane, we landed in Dulles.  My carry-on bag got caught in the overhead bin and when I pulled it out, it ripped part of my bag along the stitching.  It was totally my fault, and it didn't cause enough damage that anything would fall out, but I kept my eye on it the rest of the trip.  

Dulles did a great job getting people through customs and security to catch their connecting flight.  This was a concern for us as we only had about 2 hours between connecting flights and we didn't know how long it would take to get through everything.  One of the security officers was funny and did a great job making sure everyone heard and understood what they needed to do. We made it through customs and immigration in 20 minutes! 

After traveling for 20 hours and being awake for 24, we made it home shared some trip details with Mom and Dad, then went to bed.  We had such a great trip!  We had gelato and pasta everyday, you can't go wrong with that!