Famous Not Only For the Short Pants...

After all this time on the coast, it was time to finally get on a boat. We drove to Sorrento to the Marina Piccola (little marina) to board the boat to Capri. The marina is kind of behind us in the picture below.

The boat from Sorrento to Capri only takes about a half hour. However, the whole operation is quite a bit longer than that when you consider the boarding time with all the Italians, who flat out refuse to form a line! Once on the island, we decided to get right back on another boat in order to circumnavigate it to see the key sights. For a ride around the island that lasted about an hour and a half, the cost was pretty reasonable, under 10 euro a person. The biggest disappointment was the Blue Lagoon. The boat we were at stopped at the entrance and then you have to get off and onto these little gondola type thingies to get into the lagoon. To do this, you have to pay another 13 euros per person!! And you're only in there for five minuted max. It's the biggest racket ever...they probably made a thousand euros while we were waiting there. Needless to say, we didn't go in!

However, here are some other great pictures from the boat ride, which was only improved by the fantastic weather we had that day.

Coral on the rocks along a sea cave:

After the boat ride, we headed up to the town, some of us via the funicular and some of us via a steep staircase through a stone alley. At the top, the view of the ocean and island below was amazing.

While the rest of the group opted for a leisurely Italian lunch in the town, Sean and Brian and I decided we'd prefer a hike to the highest point on the island (where ther are some Roman ruins) and a picnic lunch. So, we set off with some sandwiches from a local shop, fruit, cookies, and a crappy map of the roads and trails of the island. The walk up was gorgeous, with lots of gates with hidden courtyards inside and vistas around every corner. Immediately outside of the town, the touristy facade fell away and you felt like you were in old world Italy. Sean practiced his Italian on passersby.

That night was our last night as a whole group in the villa, so it was party time! We went through quite a few bottles of chianti, limoncello, and vino di tavola, not to mention the Patron tequila imported to Italy from Mexico via Maui by my aunt and uncle!