Today we went to Capri. We tried yesterday, but because of the weather, we were unable to go. However, today the weather was a little bit better out on the water, and allowed us to take the ferry out to the island. When we got there we were told that the blue grotto was closed because of the waves, later we saw why, so we changed plans and decided to go hiking.
This whole time that we have been traveling (Rome, now Naples, and tomorrow Florence) we have been using Rick Steves' tour books. They have actually been really helpful with deciding on what side things to do, where to go when we need to kill a little bit of time, or where is a good place to eat. One of my favorite background stories that Rick Steves has provided us was the history of the island of Capri. The island is famous as the vacation island for Augustus and Tiberius, but what most people don't know is what Rick Steves knows!!:
"Even before becoming emperor, Augustus loved Capri so much that he traded the family-owned Isle of Ischia to the (then-independent) Neapolitans in exchange for making Capri his personal property."
After spending the afternoon hiking along the edge of Capri, I am confident in saying that Augustus was a very smart man! We hiked from the lighthouse on the bottom left corner of the island all the way up to the blue grotto at the top right. The hike was supposed to take 3 hours, and because we stopped, side-hiked, and climbed a bunch of random cliffs along the path it took us... 3 hours. The one thing we recognize about Rick Steves is there are certain things in his books that we think he has never done (this being one of them and sleeping in Naples the other!). As an outdoorsy type of person, I must say that I absolutely love to go on hikes. Since I have been here in Italy I have hiked in Aosta, the Cinque Terre, and the Gran Paradiso. However, today was not only my favorite hike in Italy, but also my favorite hike that I have ever been on. The views were amazing the whole time and we were literally hiking along the edge of the island cliffs all day.
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| The lighthouse |
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| The Entrance to the Blue Grotto... It was closed today |
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| Luke and I looking out at the beginning of the trail |
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| Luke and the island in the background |
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| One of the many forts along the trail |
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| A part of the trail zig-zagging all the way down |
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| Look mom 1 hand! |
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| Upper right making my way to the top |
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| Luke and I having a moment before descending to ascend the points in the background |
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| Halfway up |
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| The most epic Explorer pose ever |
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| The three of us at the Blue Grotto |
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| Running from the waves |
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