I was up before the 7:00 AM alarm this morning, I had been thinking about our car rental return in Rome, and worried about not having received any email confirmation that the car had actually been turned in. It was my belief that because we still had almost two days left on the rental term when we turned the car in, that the car was being used by someone else for that two day period of time, possibly by the employees there at Avis. We had the extra days because of needing the car for a few more hours on the actual day we returned it, and that was a few hours beyond a three day rental, making it four days. The rental system automatically made it for six days once we exceeded three days of rental time because that was the cheapest rate. I had heard of this con before, it would be easy for them to do since the car did not need to actually be turned in there for two more days, so it was in essence, free for them to drive for that period of time.
I had already spent enough time yesterday morning trying to figure out how to confirm it was really turned in. We never had gotten the confirmation email like we had been told would be sent once the “system” was restored at the return location. I will certainly be more wary next time if we ever rent a car in Italy again. Today is the day the rental would expire, so we were hoping to receive some confirmation of the return via email today.
I got showered and woke up Stephanie after about 15 more minutes, giving the small hot water tank some time to recuperate before her shower. We both got ready and had some breakfast in the room, and I made a small strong Italian coffee in the espresso machine in the apartment. We had some of the hard toast with jelly that was provided as part of the rental, a banana and some yogurt. The toast and especially the jelly was pretty good, but most of the toast was broken inside the packaging, so we had to eat it in pieces.
Our schedule was to leave our place at 8:15 AM for the roughly 30 minute downhill walk to the ferry pier. Luckily, it was the same route that we had taken yesterday. We were told to be at the ticket office 30 minutes before our 9:15 AM reservation, The walk seemed a little easier today, maybe the weather was better, or our knees were not as sore. Maybe it was because we knew what to expect this time, and we now knew the confusing route.
The seas were much calmer this morning, probably due to the change in wind direction, which was now northeast, so it was blocked by the mountains surrounding Positano. We purchase our tickets for the ferry to Capri, and our return ferry to Positano at 5:15 PM. We wanted to get at the front of the line so we could get seats outside on the upper deck for taking photos, preferably on the right side of the ferry since that would be the side nearest land as we headed to Capri.
Since the ferry had originated in Amalfi, a lot of the seats outside were already taken by passengers who departed from there, and we could not get seats next to the rail where it is so much easier to take photos without people standing up in front of you. Although we could not get next to the outer rail, the seats we got were pretty good for photos.
It was fairly smooth for the first three-quarters of the ride to Capri since we were protected from the wind by the shoreline. However, once we got past the shore and out into open water to cross over to the island of Capri, the northeast breeze really picked up. Fortunately, it was only a few miles more until we arrived at the harbor in Capri called Marina Grande.
Our plan was to follow the Rick Steves Guidebook suggestion for our day in Capri, and the first suggested activity was to take a circle boat tour around the island, so we headed to the ticket office to purchase our tickets for the next boat. The ticket office was right next to the ferry pier. Since it was so windy today, and from a northeast direction, we saw that all of the boats dedicated to visiting the “Blue Grotto” were cancelled due to the rough seas. The Blue Grotto is one of the most popular things to do here, you go from your larger tour boat into a very small boat, and, of course for an additional fee, they row you into a small opening in the rocky shoreline that opens up into a larger inside cave with really blue water from the natural lighting. We had already decided to skip this anyway before we realized it was closed today because of the high winds.
We waited in the designated area for the tour, which was next to several different boats that were tied up along the pier. After waiting near the front of the line, they directed us to go to another smaller boat on the opposite end of the pier, so now instead if being first in line, we were almost last. By the time we got to the smaller boat, it was already full, so they told us to go back to the end of the pier we originally started on. They were getting another boat ready, it was one of the two larger boats. The boat we got on was for the next tour, we knew this because that tour had different color tickets, but we were told to go ahead and get on anyway.
I had looked at the diagram for the tour, and it clearly showed we would go in a clockwise direction around the island, so we immediately got seats on the upper deck outside, on the right side in order to make taking photos easier. When we finally left the pier, and headed out of the harbor, we turned left to go in a counterclockwise direction, so now we were sitting on the wrong side for photos. Ugh….. so much for planning. It was not that bad, we had seats nearer to the stern, and since there were no seats on the other side that far back, no one would be in our way to shoot photos from across the boat, or at least that was what we thought. After we were several minutes out, three girls decided that they would stand in that area since there were no seats, effectively blocking the opening for photos. Eventually they just sat on the deck, so that helped for most of the remaining time.
The first attraction on the tour was a ride by the Blue Grotto. The opening seemed tiny from our tour boat, and it was clear why it was closed today, the waves were crashing against the rocky shore, almost entirely blocking off the opening. It was not much to see from our boat, the main attraction is really inside after you pass through the small opening. It was actually pretty rough, even on this large of a boat.
Once we got about one third of the way around the island of Capri, we were on the leeward side, protected from the fairly strong winds. We stopped at several points as we circled the island, several were grottos either at the water line or up on the cliffs. One in particular had a stalagmite that had formed over time that was somewhat in the shape of a statue of the Virgin Mary.
We also stopped to view a rock formation arch high up on the cliffs, and then at an opening in the shoreline cliffs that had some nice aqua colored water. It was amazing how the Captain maneuvered the boat into the tight places, it was not a small boat by any means. He also would turn the boat around so that people on both sides could get good views, even though we were close to the rocky cliffs.
The next natural formations we visited were some pointed rock formation that were off the main island a few hundred yards. One of them had a tunnel going through it, and all the tour boats, including ours, went through the opening. It was pretty small for our boat, other boats that were smaller and fit through easily. It was amazing how many boats of all sizes were doing this same circular tour, and stopping at all the same places, each taking their turn to see the sights up close. Boats were going in both directions around the island, so maybe it was just happenstance that we were going counterclockwise for our tour.
There were a couple of other stops, and soon we were heading back to the harbor. It was about a 70 minute excursion to circle Capri, and was well worth doing.
Once we left the tour boat, we headed to the bus ticket office to purchase round trip tickets to the city of Anacapri, which is the second largest town on the island after the town called Capri, which is just above the harbor. There were three ways to get to the town of Anacapri, by city bus, by taxi, or by the funicular, a two car cable car that has one car go up as the other goes down crossing in the middle. The line for the funicular was really long, and it had been suggested in the guidebook to take the funicular back to the harbor from Capri later in the day when it was less crowded.
After purchasing our bus tickets, we headed to the bus stop and that was when we realized just how crowded it was here today. We had seen many large tour groups departing the large ferries, coming from both Naples and Sorrento. Apparently, having the Blue Grotto closed for rough seas makes it even more crowded on the island itself, The Blue Grotto is probably the most popular thing to do here, and so all of those people were now forced into visiting the towns as an alternative plan. The buses were really small, only holding about 25 people max, and that was with them packed in like sardines. The worst part was that they only operated twice per hour, and the line was at least a few bus loads deep ahead of us.
We overheard a young couple in the line in front of us talking about looking into taking a taxi, and he headed off to check out that line. The taxi stand was close to the pier where we had taken the circle tour. As he walked away, I told the girl we would be interested in splitting a taxi with them to Anacapri, and she said OK. I asked the name of her husband, and then went to intercept him at the taxi line. He was a little surprised when I called out his name, but I explained the situation to him, and he agreed it was a good idea. The taxi line was also pretty long, but when we were there, taxis were steadily arriving and departing, so we thought it would go quickly. The fare was supposed to be Euro 28.00 for the taxi, for up to four persons. More than the bus, but it seemed to be a faster option.
It turned out that there must have been a limited number of taxis operating today, or at least at this time of day because we waited long periods without any arriving. We were not sure if this plan was going to be any faster than the bus, we had been in line here for 45 minutes, and were still several taxis away from being next in line. Maybe it was due to it being around noon, maybe the drivers were taking a lunch break.
While we were in line, we heard someone offering to take passengers to Anacapri in a van, for Euro 5.00 per person, so we asked if there was room for the four of us, and they said yes, so we followed the man to a parking area and got on the small van. I sat in the front with David, the husband of the couple we had met, and, as it turned out, he had relatives that used to own restaurants in the Landing in Jacksonville, Fl, and also in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fl. Small world. We had talked with them while in the taxi line, they were staying in Amalfi, and were here one more day before going to Scotland to visit a grandfather of his.
We got to Anacapri, and parted ways, scheduling to meet back at the same bus stop at 3:30 PM to try and head back to the harbor via bus or taxi. We were all on the same ferry leaving Capri at 5:15 PM, we just get off in Positano, and they travel on to the next stop in Amalfi. They headed into the central area and we headed down a side street with shops and restaurants to find a bite to eat. Most of the eateries were sit down service, and we did not have that much time here, so we finally found a take away, and ordered a slice of capriccioso pizza and a sandwich with prosciutto and mozzarella cheese that we shared. The pizza was really good.
We were very near to a recommended sight here, the Church of San Michele, so we headed there to visit. There was a small entry fee, and we had to walk on boardwalks that were installed around the inside perimeter of the church. It is famous for having a beautiful tile floor, and that is why the boardwalks exist, to keep people from wearing out the tile floor. It is just a small open church with side altars, but no permanent seating. There was also a upper balcony where you could really get the overall perspective of the floor inside the church. We could not tell if it was an operating church or just a tourist site because of the lack of pews or seats on the tile floor.
After that, we decided to head to the chairlift that goes to the highest point on the island where there were supposed to be great views. We got turned around a little from using a hand painted map sign to navigate. The hand painted sign was hanging on a nearby wall. We figured out we were not going the right way when we found a real city map on a sign post along the sidewalk we were on. We headed back in the other direction and found the single person chairlift. Unfortunately, the chairlift line was quite long, and we were not sure if we could go up and back down in our allotted time and get back to the harbor to catch our ferry back to Positano. If the line was long at the bottom, it was easily as long at the top to get back down. Stephanie was also not that keen on riding a chairlift by herself anyway.
After giving up on the chairlift idea, we headed over to another sight, the Villa San Michele, there were supposed to also be some nice viewing overlooks there. We were not actually planning to visit the Villa, just go to see the views. The views were great, the sidewalk and steps around the perimeter of the hill were actually part of the path to walk up to Anacapri from Capri. We actually ran into David and his wife heading back into the center of town as we headed over to the overlooks.
We had thought that maybe they had headed directly to the chairlift after we parted company earlier, they were headed that way, but they did not even know about the chairlift until we asked them about it. If we had headed to the chairlift right off, we could have probably made it up to the top, had lunch, and come back down without fear of the time, but we had not planned this visit out that well.
There was not a lot to see in Anacapri, so we decided that we would try and get back to the harbor early, we were not sure if we would encounter the same delays in getting back as we had in getting here. We headed back to the same area that the impromptu shuttle had dropped us off at, it looked like a bus station for both the city buses and for small tour buses. We found two lines for the local bus, but neither of them were heading to the port. We were going to ask at the ticket window but it was closed. Then we saw a bench and the words “Bus” painted on the street, so we figured that was another bus stop. There were just a few people waiting there, and they were headed to Capri, not the port. The bus arrived and Stephanie asked where it was heading, and the driver said, Capri, and that the next bus by in 10 minutes would be going to the harbor.
We were initially going to wait for the next bus, but since we were early for our ferry, we decided to go ahead to Capri and try to take the funicular back down to the port, something different to do. We hopped on the bus and rode to Capri. That at least used half of the bus tickets we had already purchased, putting them to good use. It was only a short walk to the funicular from the bus stop in Capri, and we bought our tickets and waited in line to board. We just made it past the automated gates that counted the number of people who passed through, it was counting down to zero and we were persons 4 and 3 through the gates.
It was crowded, and we barely made it onto the lower car before the doors closed, and off we went. It was a short ride down, probably less than 5 minutes. Once at the harbor, we visited a Toilette, and then planned to walk around and visit a few shops.
There was an older American lady who headed to the Toilette while I was waiting on Stephanie and she asked the attendant collecting the Euro 0.50 fee if they were clean, of course in English. The attendant just ignored her, and then I heard the lady asking again as she entered. This time she was asking Stephanie, who was heading out, and her response was funny, she told her they were as clean as they could be. Another girl was exiting the Toilette with Stephanie, and they were both laughing. None of the bathrooms are clean enough to bother to ask about, there are no other options, and that is just part of being here in Europe. Not all USA bathrooms are clean either.
It was still really crowded around the harbor area, so we thought we would see if we could take an earlier ferry back to Positano, and spend time there near the beach. Capri was just too crowded, and we were tired of fighting long lines and crowds. We got in the ticket line to ask if we could use our ticket to go earlier than the ticketed time and the attendant said just to go to the early ferry and board. Apparently, it did not matter what time you went, or the time that was listed on your ticket, just that you had a valid ticket to your destination.
The ferry we needed was just finishing unloading when we arrived at the designated pier. The ferry area was full of tourist groups, and we thought they were all trying to board the ferry we needed, but they were just staging for another ferry, probably back to Sorrento or Naples. We pushed our way by and got in line for our ferry. It was sort of a zoo trying to board, people were trying to get on first to get the best seats up top for views. We once again were unable to get seats near the edge, but we had already done photos of this area, and we were close enough to get more if I stood up above all of the heads and cell phones of the people blocking our direct view.
It was a pleasant ferry ride back, and we did get a few good photos of Positano while we were docking. Once we departed the ferry, we walked around some restaurants by the beach area and saw a man holding two “to go” draft beers in plastic cups. We asked where he got them, and he told us they came from a little side bar opening at one of the restaurants about 20 feet away. We sampled their two beer selections, and got one each of the two different brands. We found a bench to sit on and enjoyed our first beers of the trip out near the beach. They were a good change up from the red wine we had mostly been drinking
We walked around near the beach and then headed up toward some of the stores that we had not visited yesterday, but had seen higher up on the hill as we had taken the shuttle bus home.
We found a nice restaurant, the L’Ancora, with a view overlooking the beach and the sun setting behind the mountains. We had to wait about 30 minutes for them to open at 6:00 PM, but they took our names for a table reservation. We could not get right next to the open railing overlooking the beach below, but were on the second row of tables back, it was still a good view of the sunset and the sea below.
While we were waiting for the restaurant to open, we walked around some more, enjoying watching the sun go down behind the mountain. We also saw a wedding going on at a hotel rooftop area below us, and everyone watching with us clapped when they finished their vows and kissed.
It was 6:00 PM, so we headed back to the L’Ancora and were seated. We were in the second row of tables from their railing overlooking the sea below, and still had a great view of the sun setting behind the mountains. No one had yet arrived for the prime tables, so there was no one to block our view. We ordered dinner, Stephanie had Cannelloni stuffed with spinach and ricotta, and I had a fried seafood combination with shrimp, calamari, string potatoes, zucchini and carrots.
Both were good, but the fried shrimp n my dinner was whole, heads, tails, shell and legs, so we guessed that it was to be eaten whole, maybe without the head and tail, but probably with the legs and shell on since it was impossible to separate them because they were all inside the batter. The shrimp size varied from a good medium shrimp to shrimp that were about an inch long, head and tail included. The shrimp was a little crunchy eating it that way, but it had a good flavor. The fried calamari was really good but the fried string vegetables, although tasty, were not as good when they started to get cold. We were glad we tried it, but I would pass on ordering the fried seafood again. The wine was a little pricey, but good. Overall, we though the meal was good, but we definitely paid for the location and atmosphere, the food was not worth as much as the bill totaled when compared to other places we have eaten at on this trip.
After dinner, we headed up to the bus stop for the ride home, we had just missed a bus that arrived right after dinner was over while using the restrooms, but the next one was schedule to be 30 minutes later. It either never came by, or we missed it coming by because we were still waiting for a bus almost an hour later.
One finally came and stopped to pick us up, and we were at our stop about 15 minutes later. It had been a long day, and we felt that it was not that productive with all the time wasted waiting on transportation, both in Capri and here in Positano.
I tried to work on the blog posts a little bit, and to upload some pictures to the Positano Album. Stephanie was tired and headed off to bed. It is supposed to be rainy in the morning, so we don’t have any timeframe to get up. If the weather clears later in the day, we will head to the city of Amalfi by bus, which was our original plan for tomorrow.