So one morning, after not enough sleep, we decide to go to Capri to see the Grotta Azzurra. We dashed out barely making the 8.50am ferry from Amalfi. Armed with water, cameras and hangovers we made it onto the boat but had to stand out the back as there were no seats left. The coastline was magnificent, lots of tiny villages on the cliffs and a few little beaches between, we headed out to Capri via Positano. Michelle had a map of the coastline, but in her state, she was struggling to make out landmarks. Enter suave Italian seaman. He spoke no French, no English, but he insisted on giving all the history of the area, pointing out landmarks and locating them on the map for Michelle. It was delightful to watch. Two of them, heads together pointing and making gestures in the air trying to communicate. I think he was quite taken with her. He even lent her his own personal map of Capri of which we had to return to him on the return journey… in exchange she gave him a two kisses and a wave as she disembarked!

Arriving into Capri

When you arrive into the harbour in Capri, there are plenty of tourists, plenty of boats, plenty of salesmen, and locals all trying to get what they want, without, as far as I could see, any communication taking place. The big thing is the Grotta Azzurra. In fact it’s what we came to see, you take a boat to the entrance, you transfer to a rowing boat to enter the grotto, you paddle about for a few minutes then you squeeze out again, transfer back to the waiting boat and they take you for a cruise around the island to make you feel as though you’re getting your moneys worth. As it happened, the Grotto was closed due to high seas. We found out by chance, but the boat touts were not letting on. Tourists were still buying tickets, still boarding boats for the Grotto, only I suppose to be disappointed when they are far out to sea and their money has long since been pocketed. The lady at the tourist office confirmed the news after calling around, but she also told us that we should probably go up to Anacapri and see if the tourist office up there also agreed that the Grotto was closed. We didn’t quite understand why, but we went anyway. Sure enough, they agreed.

The bus to Anacapri is tiny, but it fits in more people than a regular bus ever would. The driver just keeps yelling ‘Move to the back’ or something similar and you get packed in closer and closer. In hindsight it’s not such a bad idea, it stops you from being able to turn around and peer out of the windows…. you wouldn’t want to do that, you’d be terrified, the roads are narrow, on the edge of cliffs with sheer drops to the sea around each bend.

The cliff we walked along

Anacapri was quaint and again, full of tourists. We found a pizzeria, had some great pasta followed by pizza and a jug of wine and started to feel all right again. That’s when I was talked into doing the return to Capri village from Anacapri on foot… down the same terrifying road we had just travelled by bus. Of course it would be fine, of course it wouldn’t be far, of course everyone does it – I should have known better.

The view over the port and Capri village from the road

I composed my will on the way down, and suffice to say Michelle was getting nothing. Buses tried to pass alongside of us, tractors, mopeds, cars all came hurtling along the road from both directions one after another, and then all together, it was like one very long game of chicken that kept replaying itself with different players over and over again, with us caught pinned up to the stone wall overlooking nothing and a very long way down… We made it. Eventually. It’s not a walk I’d recommend. Surely you can find a nice quiet road to walk along, maybe to a beach or through the bush, anything except the major highway between two hilltop villages.

Nothing like a hairpin bend

A beer in Capri to recover, we took the funicular back down to the port just in time to meet the 4.25pm ferry and Michelle’s Italian for our trip home….

It was disappointing to have missed the grotto but the day was lovely anyway. Michelle had fond memories of Capri from a trip she had done years before with Pierre-Paul, but after spending a few days on the Amalfi Coast the island of Capri is just not as beautiful as where we were staying. I can imagine if you stayed on the island over-night or for a couple of days it could be lovely as the sun sets and the day-trippers disappear – it would probably revert to a nice, peaceful, beautiful island worthy of praise.

But standing up next to Atrani, it just didn’t compare.