May 31

Today was our second to last day of the trip and boy did we live it like true tourists! We decided we were going to go back to Capri to get some more shopping done and really explore more of the island.

So, we made it to the port, decided to take the fast boat this time and got there in about 40 minutes. On the way, we all decided that the water was calm enough for the Blue Grotto to be open for us and we tried to will it to be open. Well, I’ll be darned if it didn’t work. The Blue Grotto was open and, once we disembarked our superspeed ferry, we bought tickets. We were taken via motorboat to a sort of Blue Grotto holding area – where motorboats were just sitting on the sea, waiting for rowboats to come and usher their passengers into the Blue Grotto. On the boat ride there, we met Glenda, who was from Florida and living in Spain with her husband, Lee, who was stationed at a naval university in Rota, Spain. Somehow, Lee convinced the skipper to let him at the wheel for a bit.

The Blue Grotto (Grotta Azzurra in Italian) is a sea cave that is difficult to enter due to the low entryway. The rowboat captains had to time the waves just right before bringing us into the Grotto otherwise we would have been crushed by the top of the rocky archway. Once inside, though, it was beautiful. The light shining from outside illuminated the water in the cave with a near-neon blue color, as the light reflected off the limestone floor of the cave.

Once we successfully made our tour of the Blue Grotto, we headed back to the Grand Marina at Capri. From there, we decided to take the funicular up to Capri and start our shopping. This was the first time we really went our separate ways – Martina went solo, Nick and Jason went together and Bruce and Jane were paired.

After several hours of shopping, we all took boats back to the Denza for dinner. We ate a quick dinner and went outside to look for a place to get some drinks. We stopped at the first restaurant down on the main street and headed in. We ordered some drinks and, when the waiter brought them out to us, he asked us what we’d like to eat. We all said that we just wanted drinks. Pasta? No. Fish? No thank you. Bread? Well, no. He left us but soon returned to make sure that we really didn’t want anything to eat. We politely told him that we were fine with just drinks. Within a few minutes, one of his cohorts returned and spoke to us in English. “You know this restaurant isn’t a winery so you’ll have to eat something.”

“We have to eat something?”

“Yes. You have to eat something.”

“So, we can’t just sit here and have our drinks without eating?”

“You have to eat something.”

“Ok. We’ll just finish our drinks and go.”

Then, he walked away. So, needless to say, there was no tip there.

After that, we headed down the street a bit to get some gelato and then headed back to the Denza for a night of rest. Tomorrow, we are visiting Solfatara, a small local volcano, with Franco.