Courtney Johnson

Today was absolutely the best day ever. And Capri is absolutely the best place ever. It is basically a giant island made up of giant cliffs and giant rock formations that stick hundreds of feet out of the Mediterranean Sea, with views of the Bay of Naples, the Sorrento Coast, the Amalfi Coast, Mount Vesuvius, and, at some points, just water as far as the eye can see. About three quarters of the island is beautiful empty cliffs while the other quarter manages to squeeze a couple of small towns - Capri, down on the water, and Anacapri - up in the cliffs.

We started our day by walking the short but steep walk from our beautiful bed and breakfast down to Anacapri town (with a friendly kitten) to catch the chair lift to the top of Mount Solaro. I am terrified of heights and was terrified to get on this single-person chair lift to the highest point on the island. I didn't do well. I gripped the railing and either stared at the cliff on my left or closed my eyes the entire way...not once looking at the beautiful view of the water and town and cliffs on my right. Once we made it to the top, we got off and walked around and I got to actually take in the beautiful scenery. It was amazing. I am so glad we took this trip in September/October because there were not that many people on the mountain. I imagine in the summer there is barely room to stand, let alone grab a seat overlooking the cliffs. We had a cold beer and relaxed and I built up the strength to take the lift down instead of hiking all the way down. The ride down was beautiful.

Once we got back down, we had a quick pizza, and took the crazy bus down to the Capri marina for a private boar tour around the island. I'm not sure what to say about this tour except that it was the absolute highlight of the trip. I can't think of much else I've ever done to top it. We spent three hours in a private boat, riding around the entire island of Capri, sipping wine and beer, swimming, and taking in the views. We went into several caves, swam in caves and grottos, and saw the island in the best way imaginable. The white grotto was amazing, with it's natural Madonna statue. The green grotto was beautiful, and Tim was able to scale the rocks inside and dive in. But nothing could ever compare to the blue grotto.

I had read so much about the blue grotto this past year. I knew it would be amazing. But everything I read said that you paid a small boat a lot of money to take you inside the grotto with a dozen other boats, turn you around, and you're out in 2 minutes. I had also read that, before and after hours (9-5), the boats and the cops leave and sometimes the locals just swim in. I had wanted to do this and had told everyone I would do this for the past year. Well that's how our boat trip ended. He dropped us off near the entrance and told us to have fun. We swam over to the tiny opening (I have no idea how any boat can fit in), we pulled ourselves in on the rope, and we saw the most beautiful thing imaginable. The entire cave is lit up with a glowing bright blue water that I can't even describe. We spent a long time in the cave, swimming and climbing and diving off rocks. It was unreal.

Then we rode back to the marina, dried off, changed, had a good pasta dinner, and now we're ready for bed. What a day!Read more