2017 Italy - Day Three - Capri and back in small boat!

October 16, 2017

Last night, before going to bed, we played a fun game of 'Crowns'.  Michelle kicked our behinds with some really low score.  But I came in 2nd place...hard to believe since my attention span for cards is normally not good.  I did have help once in a while as I would lay my cards down and sort them out after someone else had gone out.  Anyway, it was fun.

Before going to bed, Denise made me take a sleeping pill.  Wow...after I fell asleep, I heard NOTHING until 8 AM.  I've never slept like that before.  It was a beautiful thing.  I stayed a bit groggy until we got on the road.  But that was ok.  

Scott once again got up and started a similar breakfast...scrambled eggs with bacon with stinky cheese only this time the bread was soft croissant roles.  The side dish was Melba toast with cream cheese and some type of jelly!  Nice...huh?!?!

We set out around 9:45 in our swim attire.  The plan was to look at options for getting to Capri.  We walked to Amalfi and down the beach to where they sold tour tickets.  To take a ferry, spend the day on Capri and possibly the Blue Grotto thing, it was going to be 45 euro per person.  We then went to a booth a bit farther to inquire about renting a boat and driving ourselves.  It was only $100 euro plus whatever gas would cost upon returning.  It was a no brainier for us...we took the self guided tour.

What a fabulous day it was!!!  We hustled ourselves to Capri...about an hour boat trip.  We got to the harbor and went where the lady who sold our boat to us said to go.  No one came out to shuttle us in.  We waited for about 15 minutes...no one.  So Scott decided to continue on to where the Blue Grotto was.  You can ferry or bus there...the lines were amazing.  And people said it wasn't worth the money.  So we continued on just looking at inlets and the homes built on sea cliffs.  Eventually, we headed back to the harbor.  And at one point, Scott called our boat owners and asked what to do.  She said to go into a different point in the harbor.   So we did.  And we kind of followed other boats in.  Well, once we got up to where we thought someone would help us, they told us in broken English and Italian, that we were in the wrong place and where we should go.  So we dumped Denise and Michelle off and told them to walk down to where we were headed and we would meet up with them.  Well, we followed their instructions and again, no one wanted to help.  But we kept mooring to the furthest point in the marina and a couple of guys were there.  One started yelling, then pointing to a place to the side.  So we slowly went over there.  A young man followed us and then helped us tie the boat up.  We asked how long it was ok to leave it there.  He said 2 to 3 hours.  He asked for no money.  The boat renters told us it would be at least 20 euro to moor the boat there.  We did not ask and headed to find the girls.  

We ran into the girls quite quickly.  So we turned around and headed back into the town to buy tickets for the funicular that took people up the hill to the main part of town and where you could get a great view of the harbor.  2 euros each got us up there.  But while in line, I noticed a BYU back pack.  So I yelled to the guy, 'Are you from Provo?'  Of course they had been students there and were over touring Italy.  We had a great conversation with them.

We headed up the Funicular to the top.  The view was awesome.  But other than that...just a bunch of expensive shops of stuff that no one needs!  :-). We did buy one important thing up there...another gelato.  I think we eat at least two a day.  Great meal plan.

Coming down, the Hayden's wanted to walk the 10 minutes down to the marina.  We took the Funicular.  We waited for quite a while at the bottom.  But it turned out that they had landed there and we had not seen them.  They eventually started in the direction of the boat and saw us standing there.  We had a nice 30 minutes waiting watching people step in a big dog pile in front of us.  So sad for them.  You'd think they would look before they stepped.

We eventually arrived to our boat and quickly untied it.  The same young man came over, but not to get money.  He just wanted to help again.  Nice fellow.   We then motored around the south side of Capri and found some nice inlets to go into.  At one point, we turned the boat off and went for a swim.  The water felt wonderful and it was good to be in the ocean again.  The water was as crystal clear as the Caribbean.  It was awesome...my highlight of the day.

We then turned to get back to Amalfi, only taking our time cruising long the coast line and going between some islands that were just off the coast.  The coast line is so beautiful with unbelievably architected homes and hotels on the cliffs.  It is so amazing.  The other thing is how much agriculture is terraced up these cliffs.  Not sure how they get the dirt to do it.  We eventually went over to Atrani, passing Amalfi, to get some pictures of where we stayed.  We then motored back to Amalfi to get the boat in.  It was due at 5:30...we were back at 5:15.  I'm not about to go shower so we can go get some dinner.  But for some reason, the room is floating....I still feel like I'm in a boat on the ocean.  :-)

Pictures:

Getting our boat....

Happy boaters as we leave Amalfi....

Our boat in Capri....I wish!

Gearing up to ride the train up the hill...

The Funicular....

Capri Marina....

The way in...kind of gassy!

A awesome plunge into the sea....off Capri.

Kissing in Positano....

Churches everywhere....

Amalfi....

Still alive on the boat and smiling...

The crew....Positano behind us.

More kissers....we had to fit in as public affection was a requirement in these parts.  Trust me!

Atrani where our BNB is....

In the middle of the picture, you see the white thing end just below the rail along the road.  If you go straight up from where it ends (near middle of picture), the first set of Windows with the small terrace to the left is where we slept.   Obvious to me...good luck to you.

Atrani in the background....