April 15 - Capri

Today Lyle and I took the ferry from Sorrento to Capri.  I had always thought of Capri as an island of romance, but commercialism and tourism have definitely take over.  Paying 35 Euros (return) each for the short ferry ride was just the beginning than expensive day.

Of course we had to visit the Blue Grotto but the minibus ride there on the impossibly narrow road was more spectacular than the grotto itself.  The rowboat ride into the cave itself was only for about five minutes.  I found it too dark for me to see anything.

The highlight of the day was definitely the chairlift from Anacapri to the summit of Monte Solaro. The lift was for single passengers so Lyle went first so he could help me off at the summit.  The ride up was in silence, suspended in space.  It was totally awesome and I loved it.  The ride took nearly fifteen minutes to reach the top.  At times my feet seemed to nearly scrape the cliffs and tree branches, and at other times I was way above ground level.

The view from the top was amazing, with blue water and blue sky on every side.  We had packed a lunch and sat outside enjoying the sunshine. Coming down on the chairlift was equally spectacular as going up.  When it was time to get off the lift operator must have noticed my white cane because he used a strong arm and a handshake to get me out of the way of the next chair.

We took the steps and pathway to return to the ferry.  The sign said it was a ten minute walk. After a twenty minute walk we had or race along the pier to catch our ferry with thirty seconds to spare!  All in all, it was a great day.