Day 10 - Capri 27/12

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What an adventure today turned out to be. 😊

We choose to go on the optional tour today, which was the tour of Capri. We had been heavily warned against trying to go to Capri and look around by ourselves as we would apparently be totally ripped off and unable to do much as it was winter. Ok ....

Heading down the road to the harbor was a mini adventure in itself. At the base, the weather was a bit ordinary and windy. There were a bunch of cats by the path, which were beautiful. Not sure if they were ferral or not. There were plenty of them though. Getting on the boat, the water looked simply glorious. Such a beautiful colour and all. We boarded inside a sheltered area. The fun began as the boat headed out into the open waters. I was confused when a man was walking around dishing out plastic bags to everyone. My first thought was, I haven't used my umberella, and so I wont need a bag as its not wet. It then didn't take long to click ..... vomit bags!

One of the guys on our group was being really noisy and stirring up those feeling sick. I had to laugh when he decided that he needed to leave for some fresh air. The boat was such a blast. It was a rough trip, and honestly maybe a third of the boat brought up their breakfasts! It was getting quite bad towards the end as the sound of hurling was everywhere, and the smell was shocking! The guy sitting next to me had lost it, and two down from him, i was a touch worried about that man, as the amount of sweat pouring off his face was just revolting! Luckily, I haven't finished my nursing studies, so if he fell into difficulties would turn and point at the guy on our tour that just finished his course that year! Luckily the boat trip ended when it had. I think fifteen minutes more out there and I would have had a son chucking up! I was surprised though, seriously I thought the boat trip was a total ball.

I guess everything flips over though. We then had a bus trip up to the top town of Ana Capri. Um, help!!!!!!! I hate heights! I was petrified. Seriously the roads were barely wide enough to allow two cars to pass, and somehow they did. We arrived to the top and then were given instructions on when we would meet next and all that. First thing we were told to do, as go to the chair lift. Now this is not a normal chair lift. you sit on single wooden (wet) seats and go up to the top of a mini mountain. Right near the top the wind was hell! Icy cold and bit right into you. We were told not to worry, if we fell out of the chairs, the highest off the ground we would get would be 10 m. Um what she didn't say was alot of the bottom section had these wooden spikes so if you had the misfortune to fall, you would be totally skewered!!!!! Not a good look. At the top one lady was just in tears. She hadn't expected it to all be so high, and it was a bit of a shock that you had to ride solo. Was cute to see a cat at the top though.

Once everyone was back down, oh I had forgotten. Apparently we gave the tour lady a first, we all boarded the bus down at the base, and she left 6 people behind. This was the first time she had forgotten people. Glad we could obliged, and it wasn't us left behind either! We then made our way to some Villa. Either it was a doctors that treated some queen or it was a place the queen would visit, can't remember which it was, but it was a beautiful place to visit, and well worth wandering around. You get a beautiful view down to Capri, and there is a Sphinx there that you rub and make a wish on. I made it back safely to my four babies at home, so it must work 😊 I really enjoyed the villa for its gardens. It also had a cat or two running around which was cute.

After the villa we had lunch just by the main circle at the top of Ana Capri. It was a kind of fast food restaurant, that wasn't always fast. You basically got a choice of pasta or pizza, which they rattle off at a speed of light, a drink and a dessert. I noticed one of our fellow travellers had the misfortune of getting his desserts with everyone else on his table, and they didn't bring out his main course til afterwards. For desserts also, they had this gorgeous looking tiramsu (?) however once that ran out, and they didn't give you a choice, they just dumped down on your table this really small (kindy) cup with a tiny scoop of icecream in it. Was a huge contrast between the lovely large plate of cake with dusted cinamon over it. When we asked if we could have the cake, we were told, there is none, this is your dessert. Was a bit abrupt. Luckily my son who sat on another table received the cake, and we did a half time swop over. He would have chosen the icecream over the cake if given the choice. Just seemed strange they didnt give you it. I also noticed there were a bunch of cakes still in the servery that I guess they just didn't want to hand out. It was a nice meal and all, just the waiting staff were a touch rude and forceful. Could have improved the whole mood.

After lunch we took the bus back down to the top part of Capri (as opposed to Ana Capri). From there we wandered around to a garden that looks over the edge of a cliff. There is a gorgeous winding walkway to the bottom. We were then given free time to explore the area. It was a case of getting back on the bus for the small trip down to the boat. It was down at the boat I noticed there was a funicular railway, and I'm not sure why that wasn't included in our tour. I mean, we paid 45 euro per person. The boat trip was an included feature of the whole tour, so no cost to get to the island is supposed to be paid in the 45 euro. The chairlift rides were 8 euro each (groups get a discount). Entry to the villa was 5 euro. So not sure why the trip was so expensive??????? If you are looking at going to Capri as part of a Cosmos tour, please feel free to email me, and I can show you exactly what we did on a map, and you could easily achieve this yourself and save bucket loads of money. Also they try to scare you in saying alot of things will be closed and all, we didn't notice that anywhere! Have found this website http://www.capritourism.com/en/timetable-and-prices for 6.90 euro, you can purchase a two way chairlift ride and have access to the bus system for the entire day! Funny about that. We did travel in winter, and I'm sure if you were going in a different season you would be well worth checking out that website anyway, because their water is a massive feature and to go on a boat tour around the island would be an amazing trip. I guess being a bit scared I just went along what they had said, because I didn't research things fully. The other option is not going out to Capri at all, and spending the day wandering the streets of Sorrento. I know several people in our group chose that option and they had a wonder relaxing day. When we got back we went walking around exploring Sorrento and it really is a gorgeous place.

Tea that night at the hotel I adored. It was like getting a lovely home cooked meal. First course was vegetable soup, made perfectly. The mash pototao in the next course was to die for! So creamy. The desserts course had me killing myself laughing, and a few people complaining. They brought our a basket for each table of the seasonal citrus fruit. So we had a bunch of oranges, mandarins, and even a lemon to suck on! Seriously walking around this town and on Capri, I guess you wouldn't expect anything else. It was a funny nice change. I had to giggle everytime I heard someone mention it to our tour guide "for desserts they just brought out oranges ... whats with that?"

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Photos

joel on the bus
and this was before the boat! hahahahaha

deliciously deceptive water
oh and the chuck inducing boat

capri
and safely on the other side

back down from chair lift
we bought these two little desserts to tide us over. was so yummy