Went to sleep early, I guess it was a longer day for me than expected. I got up in the night for a fairly long time before getting back to sleep. Ann's alarm woke me from deep sleep at 6:45, and we had breakfast before walking down to the port to catch a ferry to Capri. Big crowds to get on, including several large tour groups, but we were there early enough to get on the boat and get decent seats with a view. The boat might have been a hydrofoil, was a smooth ride in somewhat rough seas. We left around 8:30 and docked a little after 9:00. Then we walked to the dock for the smaller boat ride that would take us around the island on a viewing tour. We sat in front of a family with an annoying kid who was being constantly placated by the parents, especially the dad. Seas too rough to go into the blue grotto area, unfortunately but not surprisingly. The other three grottoes were mildly interesting, water color beautiful by the green grotto. The tour guide was hard to hear, so we didn't get very much of what she said. She pointed out a large "castle" villa that had been owned by Mussolini, mentioned something about the connection with Dolce & Gabbana. We rode by the three rocks jutting out of the ocean, with an arch in one of them. Two-hour tour was actually just a little over an hour, I guess because we didn't stop at the blue grotto. Ann got a little queasy in the rougher seas as we approached the dock, so she found a place to sit and settle her stomach after we got off. Very, very touristy, this place. We took the funicular up to the main city, which was basically shops and restaurants. Walked over to Augustus Garden, where it took 25 minutes to use the website to buy tickets. They essentially gave us a couple of nice views of the coastline, not much more. We walked partway down the Via Krupp, which apparently leads to Marina Piccola. From there we walked back to the upper village, and Ann found us a relatively inexpensive take-away restaurant for lunch. I had Ravioli Caprese (aka in the style of Capri), her salad was bland. I felt a little bit energized after the food, but this place was definitely not my vibe. I didn't want to go further up the hill, so we walked around the village through a neighborhood leading up to the Arco Naturale. Didn't make it that far before we had to turn around because of time constraints. Back to the funicular and down to the marina area, where we sat at an overpriced Cafe while Ann had a limoncello spritz. Then we walked to the ferry back to Sorrento and got on. Ferry ride was a little rougher on the way back, but I dozed for a couple of minutes before it launched. Back to the Airbnb before 4:30, time for a rest. I did go to the store and pick up a few things before calling it a day. Here are a couple of bullet point notes from our excursion:
We saw our first Swarovski store of the trip, right after I had seen a pair of custom sandals decorated with Swarovski crystals
There's a mild obsession with the people of Naples regarding Diego Maradona. Apparently, he played for Naples for a period of time and led them to their first and second Serie A titles
At the lookout point in the Gardens of Augustus (aka Krupp Gardens) there were a number of locks attached to the iron railings, like we've seen before on selected bridges
On the Via Krupp, I heard two young women discussing the best photo look. One of them said to the other, "You could show more belly, just pull your skirt down a little." The other lady really didn't need to do that, IMHO
I saw my first mobile toilet cart ever in Capri city, which has narrow alleys and, apparently not enough facilities. Ann wasn't paying attention, and she came a little close to getting hit by the toilet cart, which certainly would have made for an entertaining story
Capri certainly isn't my kind of place. Tooany tourists, too many tourist shops, upscale fashion junk, just a few nice vistas to walk to and see from a boat
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