CAPRI/SORRENTO

So we wake up in Naples, or locally known as Napoli and our 1st priority is to find the ferry ticket office so we can buy our tickets to CaPri! Problem is…no one really speaks ANY English in the port, we are talking ZIP, ZERO. So after walking aimlessly for about 20 min we finally get pointed in the right direction by this H-O-T Italian port guard who resembles ARNOLD SWARZNEGGER… We hop on the hydrofoil to Capri and are there by 11:30, woohooooo! I think it’s the most gorgeous place EVER and we have just landed in the port, and haven’t even made our way into the town. We are traveling with 8 people and it takes a while for everyone to decide what they want to do because we only have limited time on the island, much less coordinate our schedules. We heard that they was a man who makes sandals and custom fits them to your feet, but none of the styles really caught my eye, or anyone elses so we didn’t stop there. We knew we wanted to go to the Blue Grotto so we asked about getting a boat there. Finally after negotiation at multiple places we decide to RENT a boat and drive it OURSELVES around the island of Capri. We have the boat for 2 hours and the nice man who we rented it from (and who taught us how to drive it) said that it would take an hour to drive around the island without stopping so we had about an hr of hangout in the water/cave exploring time! We were SET! Lauren was our driver and everyone else assembled themselves around the boat to catch the best rays and we sped off (well not really, the max speed of the boat was pretty slow). We passed by so0o0o many sweet yachts and other boats (all of which were larger than ours), but it was a blast waving and yelling hi to people! The man who rented us the boat also gave us a map of all the landmarks and caves around the island, so WHITE GROTTO was our first stop! We had some trouble figure out the anchor, Hannah couldn’t initially grasp that you had to pull out the tongs before you dropped it in the water, so after love tapping another boat, we finally got ours anchored and I cannon balled into the Med! There was a group of strapping young Italian men who were in Capri for a friends wedding tied up next to us, they came over and we chatted for a little bit and then decided we all wanted to go into the cave, WEEELLLL neither of us realized that is was abt 3.5 ft from the water to the step and we ALL struggled getting out of water onto the ledge to climb the stairs into the cave. Most of us flopped around and it took 2+ Italians (3 in Clarks case) to get us on land! Then we had to climb like 5 stories up and then we went into the cave. It was pretty awesome with lots of stalactites and stalagmites, and the whole place kinda glowed white, hence the name, WHITE grotto! After that we swam around for a little bit and then got back on the boat to continue our voyage around the island. We didn’t stop for a while, but passed by tons of beach clubs with lots of sun bathers, and there was a constant stream of boat traffic that passed us, it was sooooo fun driving around! Finally we put our anchor down again right before we got back to where we started and swam to a beach. Hannah, Carol, Clark and I bought GOGGLES, so we all went rock hunting! I found some pretty kewl rocks that now reside in the my bedside table! Then we had to deliver the boat back!

All of our tummies were rumbling so we went into Capri Town and weaved through the tiny streets with AWESOME, but very expensive shops, and had a delicious lunch at Aurora (it’s the celeb hotspot in Capri, yet we didn’t spot any). I had gnocchi pasta and split a Caprese Pizza with some peeps. After lunch we tried to go see the Blue Grotto but it had CLOSED! I was SUPER bummed, so I had a gelato and we camped out on the beach for the rest of the day and then caught a ferry to Sorrento for the night!

When we got to Sorrento we hailed a cab and he took us to our hotel which was at the TOP of the mountain above the town of Sorrento. I found the hotel online and it was pretty cheap, but when we got there we were sooooo surprised how nice it was! We had breathtaking views of the whole city, there was a huge pool with views, and a upper patio with tons of loungers and more views, we even had GREAT views from our hotel room! We celebrated our good fortune with a bottle of wine and then went into town for dinner. These young Italian boys were STARING at us all dinner and then finally came over and asked if we wanted to go to the Blue Mar discoteca with them. They spoke little to no English so communicating with them was tough at best. We told them we would meet them at this discoteca because we still had to pay our bill. Getting there was a little hairy, it turned out this LOCAL place was 30 min outside of Sorrento, our cab fare was OUTRAGEOUS and the local italiano girls were totally not digging us infringing on their turf. We ended up in town at the English Inn and had a great time dancing! The next day we woke up and walked 10 min down the mountain to have lunch at this gorgeous hotel with awesome views! After that we went back to the hotel laid out on the upper deck and then went to town and walked around and explored for a few hours before we got back on the ferry to head back to Naples. Sorrento was so gorgeous; I definitely wish we could have spent more time there! It was a lot larger than I expected and there was a lot more going on than I would have thought! Italy has been my favorite country I fell in love with Capri and Sorrento and am literally itching to go back soon!