10/14: Capri Sun

10/14: Capri Sun
One of the best days of my life. Period. Everything just went perfectly.
There was a lot to do on the Isle of Capri and we only had one day to do it all. We arrived in Capri via ferry around 9:30. Most of the group was going on a hike to Monte Solare, the highest peak on the island. Our guide Peter said it would take roughly two and half hours. We wanted to do it, but with other must do activities such as beaches and swimming in the Blue Grotto on our agenda, two and a half hours wasn’t looking too great. We ended up scaling the mountain ahead of the huge group. Before that, Miller and I bought some Euro swim shorts. Basically, they’re like board shorts except way smaller.
We hiked up some steep slopes and the trail turned into more of an animal path. We knew we were on the wrong trail, but we scrambled up to the peak. There was a big cross up top and a 360 view of the ocean and island. However, we were on the wrong peak, and Monte Solare was one rise over. It didn’t take too long to find the real trail and take the correct peak. The view there was even better and the ocean was a light blue. This whole area is dominated by cliffs overhanging the ocean, and it makes for some breathtaking views.
After scaling the peak in record time, we headed down and towards the Blue Grotto. We made it to the town of AnaCapri and finally found the road to Blue Grotto. We decided to hoof it rather than take the bus, but the route was a lot longer than expected. Our crew was myself, Miller, Zo, Thompson, Engel, and Frank. We definitely hiked way more than anyone else. When we finally got to the Blue Grotto, the GU group had beaten us there via autobus. But we met up with Nick, who showed us some small but great cliffs and a decent swimming area. We jumped at least 20 times, took lots of pics, and impressed everyone with the Euroshorts. Eventually a large group of GU kids made it there and it became a cliff jumping party. We tried the “rapid fire” jump w/ me, Engel, John, Matt, and Zo, but Miller was last and almost landed on my head. Oh well.
That was great, but we had no idea what we were getting into. By the time we finally finished cliff diving, it was getting kind of late. Everyone else had hit up the Grotto and was singing its praises. We did a few more cliff jumps and then headed to the Grotto. The line wasn’t that long and Joel, Tom, Tina, and Malia were there waiting as well. All of us wanted to swim. The cat controlling one of the boats told us to wait about 10 minutes and then we could swim in on our own after all the boats left. On our own in the Blue Grotto, without all the boats and tourists that usually dominate the area. I think that the boat guys were ready to call it a day and didn’t want to stick around to bring 12 kids in who all wanted to swim. So of course we waited because the usual rate is 8.50 Euro plus 3 euro if you want to swim in that billy. Quite the rip-off.
The boats vanished and it was all to ourselves. An Italian guy who had been swimming laps along the coast came to the entrance where we were waiting and talked with us. He told us to follow him into the Grotto. We let Tom, Joel, Tina, and Malia swim in first while we watched their stuff. When they came out, we jumped right in. We swam straight to the farthest end of the cave without looking back. It was me, Zo, Miller, Frank, John, and Engel. When we finally reached the end of the cave, we all turned around and saw the sight of our lives. No words can totally describe it. It was light blue crystal, all the way to the core. That’s the only explanation I have. It’s imprinted in my memory forever, but I can’t do justice to it with words alone. It’s something that will always live in my mind but not on my tongue.
We finally left the Blue Grotto and then took the bus back to the ferry harbor. We got back to Sorrento quickly and were ready for dinner. Luckily, they were having a fish festival there. I put some cargo shorts on over my eurotrunks, closed the show down, and took the fast ship back to the mainland.
The seafood festival was phenomenal. It took place right on the water, with the small town perched above it on steep cliffs. You could drop 5 euro for a full plate of seafood and a glass of wine. That’s how they roll. I ate shrimp, calamari, swordfish pasta, and cake for dessert. As I was eating my pasta, Miller and I noticed that the live band was playing American music. Myself, Miller, and His Thompness headed over to the stage as “New York New York” was playing. Out of coincidence, Engel came over at the same time from the other side of the festival to worship and dance to the band. We started dancing and after that it was over. The crowd jumped in and it became a dance party. The band kept playing some American songs and I got asked in Italian to dance with someone (I think it was the teacher or chaperone of a 5th grade girls’ Italian school that was there at the festival) and I danced. This group took a ton of photos as I danced and I felt like Tom Cruise pre Katie Holmes. We all danced for a long time and then headed back to the “campground” to clean up and drink some water.
We dug into our wine and finished it pretty fast as we looked out over the harbor. You could still here the music from the festival below and there were several firework shows in the distance. We hit the limoncella and then headed up to another cabin.
We ended up skinny dipping for the second night in a row, this time in the swimming pool. The girls were pretty lame and were reluctant to join us, and finally some authorities or something came. We scrambled once again and Engel and I hid in the woods for a while until they left. Then we headed back to our cabin to comfort Frank, who had hurt his toe while jumping over the pool’s gate. He finally fell asleep and I called it a night. I will definitely miss the Isle of Capri and the friendly town of Sorrento.