Italy Trip - Day 7 - Capri, after a two hour hike, we day drink dammit

We headed to Capri early the next morning. The Steves said to take the first ferry out from Sorrento and we are so glad we did. We actually got into the Blue Grotto. This is the main attraction of this tiny island just off the coast and it was well worth the hype.It is closed a lot and we knew the chances were not good that we would get in. Apparently in the morning though the water is not so choppy.

After the 30 minute ferry ride over to the island we got right on the boat to go to the grotto:

Our ferry to Capri from Sorrento

Just after arriving on the island we did not even leave the pier, we got right on the boat for the grotto. This is what we thought was the small boat...

The hubs on the medium boat

On our way to the grotto we got a great tour of the cliffs of the gorgeous island

As we pulled up in our medium sized boat we saw the boats we actually took into the grotto... very small.

Here we are loaded into the boat.

A good shot of how small the boats were, we were in this boat with about 5 people... very tight.

You can't tell but that is the entrance. They time it with the current so when the water goes down you go in.

They pull the chain...

and your are in!

We worth the hype for sure. This is all natural light. It was unreal.

Light bounces off the rocks under water.

it was so clear.

In the grotto!

After leaving the grotto, we headed up the hills to the fist town on the island, Capri Town. This is where all the crazy shopping is and fancy hotels. Here is the view:

Shot of me and the Steves book... again.

At the top of the train tracks that gets you up the hill

We walked around and window "shopped", and while wondering cam across this sign on one of the shop windows. I love it.

After wondering around a bit more, we decided to skip the long line waiting for the bus that took you up to the other town  on the island and took a convertible cab. Here is the view along the highway:

So pretty

Driving along the highway in our fancy cab gave us the ability to really see the island. Totally worth the money.

Mr. A in the cab looking so happy we did not wait in the line for the bus!

After we arrived in Anacapri, we decided to take the chair lift to the top of the island. In an effort to save some euros we decided we would hike back down. BIG MISTAKE. Pay the money, don't every hike on vacation:

Chair lift up

I was scared so I took pictures of my feet to make me feel better

It was really high up. And look at those people taking the lift back down. Smug bastards.

We made it to the top! It was unreal up there. It was foggy, so you can't really tell but the whole coast line can be seen from up there.

Famous rocks.

And now we begin the hike from hell. The Steves said slightly changeling. We say BULL SHIT. It was super hard. We wondered for about an hour and a half, fearing for our lives and not enjoying on view because the ground was so steep. Not a good plan on our part.

I was so annoyed.

The "view" from our hike. I made Mr. A stop so I could sit down and empty my shoes out of all the ROCKS.

After our hike we needed nourishment. We had heard about this great place for local food. So we wondered around a bit more and finally found it. Here is Mr. A just after we sat down: 

So sexy...

So what do you do when you have had a miserable hike? You day drink...

Happy man!

After a bottle of wine and several of these limonciellos life was good again:

Unreal lemon cake I just had to share with you all:

After lunch and getting our buzz on we took a cab back down to the port and waited for our ferry back to Sorrento. While waiting we went to the local beach and waded around. The water was so clear and cold it was a perfect end to our visit.

The water was about a foot deep here, it was so clear.

In the water relaxing.

That night we walked around Sorrento after a nice nap and watched a soccer game. Mr. A was in heaven at the local pub yelling at the soccer players. It was a lot of fun. I rallied and drank some more.

There is a long story involved in this next video. Kate I just had to post it for you though. This is what happens to me after day drinking and then drinking another bottle of wine myself:

Next up we headed to heaven, or for you plain non fancy folk, Positano Italy!

Italy Trip - Day 6 - Pompeii, the site of our first travel fight

After 5 days in Italy we had our first fight. I am not really sure what the fight was about but it was stupid. I got mad and walked away from Mr. A for a while so the first few pictures I took were totally away from him and I looked super pissy in pictures. Then we reconciled, and were like "We are in Italy, let's cut the crap".

Pompeii was one of those places I had already been to but was really looking forward to getting to again. We took the train from Sorrento first thing in the morning and headed into the park. The park entrance seen below is impressive. Everything is so well preserved. Mr. A has been to Machu Pichu and said Pompeii was way bigger and impressive to see. I thought that said a lot.

Check out our photo recap below:

Entrance

The new Pompeii is in the distance. I can't believe people still live there even with the real threat of the volcano blowing again!

Always civilized, they had crosswalks so your feed did not get dirty in the streets.

The main forum.

Forum looking at the volcano

Me and the Steves book and tour.

Bakery, I need to get one of these.

Then after hours of walking around I remembered that we had to go to the brothel. The Romans were very into their brothels and there are several in Pompeii. Well one of them is actually very well preserved. I was determined to find it. After being lost for about an hour we finally found it! I am pretty sure my husband was embarrassed because we kept walking around saying we needed to find a brothel. Oh well.

Me giving the come hither to the stone bed in the brothel rooms.

Seduction...

He wanted to order this option...

Outside of the park is the House of Mysteries, there is a famous fresco that depicts a Dionysian cult having an orgy. I of course had to find this and show it to Mr. A.

Cute dog at the train station who kept begging for food. At this point we totally started missing our pup.

It was a good day for us in the end!

That night we had dinner on the pier and met a bunch of thugs from New Jersey. It was a low key night, and the food was just ehhh. The next morning though, we got up early to head to Capri!

Italy Trip - Day 5 - Sorrento, the day I had a 10 euro sandwich

 Early in the morning we headed out from Rome's Termini station and took the fast train to Sorrento. They did not have this train when I was there. We got all the way to Napes from Rome in under an hour! The trains were so nice and totally worth the upgrade. I do have to say do not pay for first class though. The second class tickets are the same and about half the price.

We headed to Sorrento and used the beautiful city as our base of operations for our day trips around the region. The city itself is pretty small compared to Rome, but had about DOUBLE the tourists. It was nuts because we were there during the off season and it was still packed. Most of them were cruise people, ugh. Just after we arrived at our hotel, Hotel Del Mare, we walked down to the water and decided to grab a sandwich. Well in Rome they were like 2 euro and huge, in Sorrento they were still huge but 10 euro! WTF!? after the sticker shock I was ready to explore. We made the best the rest of the only kind of foggy day we had on the trip and walked around the city and did some shopping. Here is your photo extravaganza:

Just after we arrived in Sorrento. Just after ordering a panini that should have cost 2 euro, no it was 10.

Walking into town. There were a lot of steps. I was grateful after all I had been eating.

The men's club in Sorrento. Not a strip club, just a place where old men play chess... who knew!?

View out from Sorrento.

As my dear friend Kelly put it, I found a volcano!

Mr. A enjoying the foreigners club and the views. We had drinks here and chatted it up with some British couple that was prego and celebrating. It was really sweet.

The view, you cant tell but it is really pretty.

Our classy wine and glasses after the day of travel and walking around. We drank this on the roof of our hotel. Don't forget the gummy bears!

I love Italian hotels. This was really the only issue we ran into. BTW Mr. A is tall but not THAT tall.

The hotel we stayed at was highly rated on trip advisor and was actually pretty good. It was 100 euro a night and right on the water. Other than the occasional waft of gross sea air it was really perfect. Mr. A even liked the tiny shower we had because it had multiple shower heads. Heheh.

The next day we woke up early and headed to Pompeii.