A beautiful day boating in Capri

This post is a continuation of ‘A wedding in Capri‘.

The day after the wedding, Alessandra and Fabrizio arranged for all of us to go boating around the island. I was very excited at the thought. Even though Cart and I already have done this, but the day was extra special as we’d be surrounded by friends.

We woke up to a beautiful morning in Capri and after a quick breakfast, we were chauffeured by the villa’s driver and we were off.

In my opinion, I think probably the best drivers in Italy is probably in this region because the drivers here are really impressive. Their two way road is the size of one lane but the drivers are not fazed and carries on at their normal speed. There is less than 10 cm space in between this bus and our taxi.

I looked around at the lush greenery around me and in no time, we reached the main harbour – Marina Grande. It was a bustling of activity, full of beautiful people walking around. It felt so festive just to be there.

After waiting for the rest of the gang to reach and be ready, I was already feeling extremely enthusiastic. I love being on a boat and of course was admiring the beautiful scenery around.

To me, going around the island of Capri is like looking at a Geography book coming to life – There were so many interesting rock formation and landscapes around formed by terrestrial, atmospheric, and marine processes for thousands of years.

For example, most of the coasts in Capri are made up of granite rocks which is more impervious to weathering, and thus creates jagged cliffs such as this one.

And here is a classic example of an arch and a stack – formed by the abrasion, pounding and hydraulic action of the waves.

Another amazing thing about Capri is how very clear the water is, and how blue. You can almost see the floor! And in certain areas that we went to, where the sun hits the floor at the right spot, it looked as it was glowing!

Regardless if you love Geography or not, Capri is undeniably beautiful. Really a heaven on earth. In my opinion, every shot that you take here is postcard picture perfect.

After a while, the boatman stopped to let us go swimming for a bit. I’ve been waiting for four years!

The water was so inviting!

But one thing to remember is that, regardless of how clear the water looks like, it’s still the sea and so it’s salty! No matter how excited you are, always close your mouth when you jump out.

Flavia and Beatrice were so happy.

It was a little difficult for me to swim though because of the very strong waves going on and was a little jealous of the rest of the group being able to swim to the shore.

A few got a little rambunctious and decided get a little silly by making their swimming costumes as a hat.

After our relaxing dip, we continued on our round-about the island. And with the sun shining, I air dried pretty quickly. Check out the amount of salt that formed on my skin. That was how salty the water here was.

As we went on further, the boatman started to explain that this very cliff in the picture below was where the Emperor Tiberius had his condemned prisoners to be thrown down. The cliff was very high and with the shallow sea and the rocks below, I doubt anyone will survive the fall.

And at length, our boat ride ended, and after a beautiful scenic route, reluctantly, we got back to Marina Grande.

And we headed up for a walk to Piazzetta withthe funicular to see the breathtakingly beautiful sights in front of us.

If it was crowded the last that I was here, it was even more crowded then and Flavia told me that it’ll get even more so in August when the temperature is hotter and most Italians go for their annual vacation.

As the day was warm, Cart got a glass of one of this lemon+orange slushie and that was enough to rouse an appetite in me!

And so we went for lunch at Fabrizio’s hotel where I had a nice plate of calamari.

While Cart had Gnocchi alla Sorrentina and mixed vegetables

And Fabrizio had a plate of swordfish. I gave it a taste, and this was interesting to me because while it tasted fresh, it didn’t taste baked, or boiled but when asked if it was a sort of carpaccio, Fabrizio said no. It was possibly a marinated fish.

After our sumptuous lunch, we walked back to our villa. At first I was a little nervous as I thought that it could be far, but luckily it was within walking distance or at least, there were plentiful of things to see to distract us!

Walking around, reminds me so much of Greece. Just look at the buildings, they look totally Mediterranean.

An interesting thing that I observed is how 99% of the residents here has a ceramic tile of various designs at their door with their family name or house number. I think it’s a very classy thing to do, moreover it’s a wonderful artisan craft.

I’m also adding in this picture below as a reminded to myself of how much it’ll change the next time I go to Capri again. Looks reasonable for now, but I hope it doesn’t go crazy high in a couple of years.

It was such a restful walk that before we knew it, we finally reached the hotel!  Cart and I rested for a bit, I changed out of my dirty clothes and showered. As much as I loved the trip, I felt really grimy after that!

With everyone all ready and refreshed, we went out to have dinner in a restaurant called Il Saracevo. Cart and I spotted something interesting there. That’s Cart’s real name.

Too bad we couldn’t eat this because it contained lard inside.

Anyway, let me show you a couple of the food that we had that night :

1. Caprese

2. Fried battered calamari and prawns. This was such a dream!

3. Spaghetti con le vongole

4. Penne alla parmiggiana. This was like a hybrid of Melanzana Parmigiana and penne alla sorrentina together. An interesting mix.

5. Baked swordfish. I like fish, but this was sadly a little too salty for me.

6. An assortment of pizza

7. Babà cake (Furryphoto‘s favourite)

8. Torta al limone which I loved the creaminess and the tartness.

9. Torta Caprese which Cart had and I didn’t order because I thought it would be cloying but it wasn’t at all!

It was a really lovely evening, seeing close friends together, chatting and having a good time. If only I can teleport all my beloved friends together with me, that would be so nice. But it’s just a matter of time when I will find good friends to bond with in Italy too.

Before I end this post, check this out! While we were walking back to our hotel after the dinner, I noticed this charming looking restaurant.

And a board full of pictures next to it and upon looking closer …

It’s the pope!

Next : Our last day in Capri