--A British tourist explaining to his wife at dinner why her calves were sore.
New Pictures are up at http://www.kelseylumpkin.shutterfly.com
My first morning waking up in the hostel was…an early one. We hadn’t closed the shutters that open out on to the balcony so; at 5am the room was BRIGHT. It was
also bright at 5:20, 6:10, 6:30, 7 and 7:30 when I finally gave up and decided I wasn’t going to get to sleep in. Made my way downstairs for the “not included but really reasonable and good” hostel breakfast. Well, they were right on one count…and itwasn’t the “good” one. Oh well.
I had signed up the night before for one of the day trips to Capri (and island just off of the Amalfi coast) and so I headed down (and down and down…remember? The bloody stairs?? I tell you, my legs hadn’t forgotten) to the beach. It was only me
and 4 other people on my particular tour. We rode in a motorboat about 30 minutes over to Capri. The island is known for these amazing rock formations along the coast as well as grottos (basically big caves) that are supposed to be beautiful. I had heard especially wonderful things about the Blue Grotto, you take a row boat inside and the opening is so small that you actually have to lie down in the boat to get in and once you’re inside everything is a sparkly, beautiful blue. (The color is due to some combination of how the sunlight enters through the small opening
and the watercolor…). When we arrived at the entrance to the Grotto there were already several boats ahead of us. Our driver (boater? Captain?) said it would be
at least a 45-minute wait before we could go in and it was really not that great and basically a tourist trap. The other people in the boat didn’t want towait. I did, but I didn’t want to make everyone else wait just for me. Now, I am super bummed that I didn’t stick up for myself. It was an important lesson to learn though. This is most likely one of the only times I will be in these places in my life…and I need to make it the trip I want to have. Maybe when AE and Meg come out we will be in that area again and I can be a little snot and insist that we go see the Blue Grotto, ‘cause I wanna and I don’t care what anybody else wants to do. Hmph. (Or, maybe not.)
So we docked in Capri. The town of Capri is about 3K up the mountain from the marina. You can take a bus or this lift-thing called the funicular (which is sort
of like the trolley’s in San Francisco). Well…I was going to have 6 hours on my own in this town (and there we long lines for both) so I decided to walk up to the town. Wow. That is a long, steep 3K. But rewarding nonetheless. Once “up top” I wandered around a bit and gawked at the absolute throngs of people there. Capri is apparently a day trip for people all along the Amalfi coast…which means you can
hardly walk down the street for the people. Ew. I finally purchased a map and saw that there was a land grotto that was pretty out of the way and looked like it probably didn’t get much traffic. So I headed out in search of this grotto, which was sure to make up for missing the Blue one. Found the road, it started off as a pleasant, narrow, cobbled road and then it became narrower (only scooters could get by now) and then narrower and then it became a dirt path (and suddenly I was conscious that I hadn’t passed anyone else in quite some time) and then the path ended. There I was, standing in the middle of…a junkyard. I am not kidding. The dirt path just ended in the middle of somebody’s garbage heap. I could see no
other path going forward and certainly no amazingly beautiful cave. I was starting to get a bit frustrated…and hungry.
I made my way back towards town and tried to find a restaurant that seemed off the beaten path (hahaha…that doesn’t seem to exists in Capri). I was very excited to try to Caprese salad (which the island theoretically invented). Caprese salad, in case you don’t know, is tomatoes; fresh mozzarella and basil
drizzled in olive oil. It is a very simple salad and whether it is fantastic or horrible depends completely on the freshness and quality of the ingredients. I
was disappointed. Hard, yellow tomatoes, dry mozzarella, 3 small basil leaves…
So the first half of the day in Capri was a complete bust. I decided that was going to turn around, starting right now. I picked out a place called “Somebody’s Gardens.” It actually was called someone’s name…but I can’t think of it at the
moment…Tiberius? Augustus? I made my way there.
(Tip: When traveling in unfamiliar city…spend the extra euro to get the big map…just trust me on this).
So, finally I arrived at whoever’s gardens and they were, really, quite spectacular. Amazingly kept grounds, fantastic views out to the sea…a nice, quiet
place to relax. Incidentally while in the gardens I took a picture of two Americans who were traveling together. I saw them 3 times over the next few days and every time the guy thanked me effusively for taking their picture…. he obviously didn’t grow up with Minnesota Nice…) (By the way, is effusively the right word there?? I mean a lot. )
It was about time to head back towards the boat. I wandered along the main shopping way back towards the marina. Capri caters to certain extremely wealthy clientele. I saw 2 Prada shops, Gucci, Dolce & Gabana, and Swarsky Crystal among many other very posh places. I always wonder how (even if you have millions of dollars) you can justify spending $125 on, say, a sock…
On the boat back to Positano I asked if anyone wanted to swim…no one seemed that interested but I put my newly emboldened foot down and said that I would like
to stop and swim. So we did and 2 of the other people got out and swam with me…and really enjoyed it. So, there! Actually it was freezing, but great and the sea is SO salty that you hardly have to swim at all…you just sort of float there. Neat!
Back up (and up and up) to the hostel after a quick (small) shower and change I met a girl who had just shown up at the hostel traveling from Australia. Sasha and I decided to head down towards the beach and try to find somewhere for dinner. I was really in the mood for Risotto…but everywhere that had risotto only offered seafood. (I am told that if you’re into seafood Amalfi coast is the place to go). At one place a waiter came out and was chatting us up. I decided to keep going with my “make this trip exactly what you want it to be” attitude and asked if they’d
make me a non-seafood risotto. He went back to the chef and after some back and forth…I was sitting down to an amazing plate of vegetable risotto. And it was
fantastic. After dinner Sasha and I stayed down at the beach to listen to the free music (tonight it was a Mediterranean pop group…can you imagine an accordion in a pop group…oh, yea…imagine it.)
Then back up to the hostel and sleep.
Ok, I’ve rambled on enough for now. Still to come: my last day in Positano and the trip home. Plus an update on how things are going at the Borgo (Preview: pretty darn good).
Hope everyone is well,
Love and blessings
KNL
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