Blue Grotto

We would like to meet the first guy who thought going into this cave was a good idea. It looks like the home of one of those giant sea serpents the sailors from the 1500s used to fear. But thankfully someone had the guts to poke their head inside, because inside this cave is the most incredible color you could ever find in nature.

A trip to the Blue Grotto is an Indiana Jones style adventure, far removed from many of the well-worn tourist paths. When you catch the boat from the Capri port, you are warned that you will need to hop from your larger boat, down into a 3 person row boat. One of those persons will be your local guide, and you will need to pay them for entrance into the grotto.

Once you get to the mouth of the grotto, it's really one of the most chaotic and strangest scenes you have ever seen. There are people hopping back and forth between larger boats and small row boats. There's a lot of animated local Italians rowing the small boats who are as much of the show as the grotto. It sounds like they are all fighting, but the laughter in between the yelling let us know that they are living the dream life and having fun with it.

And this is the really strange part: the opening to the cave is sometimes completely covered by waves! We thought back to the warnings to get here as early in the morning as possible for the calmer seas, and we now are wondering if 10 am was just too late. We had come this far, and a little life-or-death danger was not about to stop us.

As we waited on our larger boat for the small row boats to come get us, we watched as one by one the little row boats would get in a line waiting for their turn to enter the cave. It honestly looked like a they were being swallowed by the cliff as they timed their entrance with the waves, and darted in right before the next wave made them disappear - very freaky.

Occasionally the monster would spit a row boat back out, so we knew there would be hope for us. We hopped down into our row boat with our animated Italian guide, and he gave us a little instruction: "Keep you head down". Enough said. We paddled over to a larger row boat, where the guy was collecting money for the entrance. I think this was our first brush with the Mafia, because what were our options for not paying at this point?

As we approached the opening to the cave, our guide instructed us to lay on the floor of boat, and warned that he also would need to get as flat as possible in case of an ill timed wave. It was crazy, laying there, watching the opening appear and disappear. There is a rope from the outside of the cave to the inside, that runs along the top of the opening. The guide has to grab onto the rope, time the waves and pull us into the cave. Making it more chaotic is the yelling back and forth in Italian because they can not see exiting boats - it is pitch black inside the cave. We looked at each other and without a word said "This is the coolest thing ever!"

With a yell of "Andiamo!" (let's go!), you remember the first rule of Blue Grotto (Keep your head down!) and you enter into pitch black silence. As your eyes adjust, you start to see the light reflecting from underneath you. It starts to glow brighter and brighter blue until you stop believing it's real. As you row to the back of the cave, you can begin to understand how it works. The cliff walls come down into the ocean, but only about 5 to 10 feet at the front of the cave. This allows the light to reflect through the ocean, under the rock, and back up into the cave. Absolutely incredible sight (tough to photograph in a rocking boat).

If you look closely, You can see the bright red coral at the water's edge on the cave's walls.

The cave also provides the perfect acoustics for a few of the guides to show off their operatic talents, it's quite a performance. After a few minutes of the entertainment and floating about, they apologize that they have to row you back out so others too can enjoy this natural wonder. As you approach the exit, no need to remind us of rule number one.

Jetting back out into the open ocean, you feel like the astronauts landing back on earth after seeing something that was just out of this world. There are a few wide eyed tourist looking at you and wondering "What did they just see?", and "I can't believe the monster just spit them back out!" With the smiles on our faces, we were sure would give them a little courage to overcome any fears. And we were sure glad that, many years ago, when that first guy said "I wonder what's in there!", that he had the guts to row into the cave. We are sure that he had the same smile on his face that we had right then!

Island of Capri

"Bella!" is what the Italians say when you tell them you are headed to the Island of Capri. They also add a finger-tips-to-the-lips kiss, to add a little extra passion. After today, we know why. It really is one of the most beautiful places that you could ever see.

If you pronounce it like we have always done, ca-PRI, you get a look from the locals like they are not sure what you are telling them. Seconds later, they recognize our accents (that we don't think we have), and exclaim "CA-pri! Bella!", finger tip kiss salute included.

The cruise is about 30 minutes from Sorrento to the port on Capri, the water is calm and the weather is perfect. We were amazed at the height of the island, and how sharply it jets from the ocean. Most of the coast of the island is sheer cliff, making for a very dramatic approach, and we were sure that there would be incredible views from the top as we anxiously awaited to dock.

The port is packed with shops, restaurants and tour guides ready to separate you from your euros. Capri is one of the most expensive places in the world, and rightfully so. This is probably a good thing, because if it were inexpensive it would be impossible to even get on the island - everyone would live here.

As we docked, we could see another much larger ferry boat approaching, so we knew we would have to move quickly to take advantage of the famed Blue Grotto tour. We had been told that you have to get out to the Grotto as early as you can, or risk the chance of not being able to see it at all. The afternoon sea becomes a little rougher than the morning, and the slightest bit of waves could block the opening to the cave.

Our 007 Bond-like ferry-to-small-boat transfer was literally less than 30 seconds. We walked up to the counter, paid, were told to jump on a boat with about 10 others already onboard. The captain hit the throttle before we even sat down! We guess he also saw the much larger ferry boat approaching and knew we better get in front of the pack.

The Blue Grotto deserves it's own blog and photo, so see next entry for details - it's amazing. After we left the Blue Grotto, our captain gave us a complete tour around the island. There is a Green Grotto, but much less dramatic than the Blue since it is not a complete cave. The cliff above overhangs the water enough to create a shade that illuminates the water, giving it the emerald glow. Another beautiful accent is the dark red coral pieces, about the size of dimes, that cling to the cliff walls right at the water's edge.

On the south side of the island are huge rock outcroppings, one of which has a natural tunnel you can cruise right through on the boat.

We made it back to the port, had some pizza for lunch (what else?), and headed by bus to the small town on the highest point of the island, Anacapri. Anacapri is a shopping mecca for the rich and famous, with high end shops like Dolce & Gabbana, Versace, and Gucci lining the quint streets. Since we did not buy anything (the sale rack at Banana Republic is about as high as we go), we chose to walk down the very narrow street, basically cut into the side of the cliff, to the town of Capri.

This treacherous road is wide enough for maybe one car, or 2 Vespas, so it was crazy to see 2 mini buses squeeze by barely slowing down. What made it more insane was the 400 foot cliff on one side of the road. Many times we had to sit up on the wall to give 2 cars the room to pass, trying very hard not to look down on the sparkling blue-green water hundreds of feet below. When there were no cars, you could step back and see the most incredible view you have ever seen - it made the car/bus/scooter dodging all worth it.

Once you reach the town of Capri, the largest on the island, there is a funicular you can ride back down to the port - seemed like a good way to go after the last few miles. As we sailed away, we looked back at the island and were thankful for such a wonderful day, and the views that will never fade in our minds. And no matter how you pronounce it, ca-PRI or CA-pri, there is no confusion; it is truly bella and deserves the finger-tip-kiss salute!

Naples - The birthplace of everyone's favorite food...

The Naples area claims to have invented pizza, and to have the best in the world. There was only one way to prove this outrageous claim; we would have to eat at least 20 pizzas over the next week to get a good cross-sample and have enough evidence to prove this hypothesis true or false. We were up for the task.

It's true, the pizza is unbelievable, everything about it. The Neapolitans love to tell you the reasons why their pizza is the best. Most of the credit goes to Mount Vesuvius, and the extremely rich soil surrounding the volcano. They say that whatever is grown here, tastes better.

The crust is perfect. It's thin, so you don't get filled up on a bunch of dough (and have a shot at not becoming a walking carb). It's amazing that a lot of Italians (who live in Italy) are not completely overweight with the amount of pasta and pizza they eat. First, they walk everywhere. Second, they pace themselves when they eat. And third, they eat thin crust pizza. You can taste the freshness of the flour, and the flavor from a wood oven that probably has been cooking pizzas for 100 years.

The sauce is so sweet, made from their famous San Marzano tomatoes, unlike anything we have ever tasted. The cheese is fresh mozzarella, just globs like the attached photo, not covering the entire pizza. That would never fly with many pizza places in the U.S., they not only cover the top of the pizza (with 5 times the amount of cheese as this one), they also stuff the cheese in the crust!
The famous, and most simple pizza, is the pizza Margherita. It has all the colors of the Italian flag; red sauce, white cheese and crust, and green basil. But why do they call it the Margherita? Here's the story: back in the 1800s, Queen Margherita, wife of Umberto I, King of Italy, decided to try this "peasant food" as it was known at that time. The pizza maker fashioned her pizza after the colors of the Italian flag, to represent the pizza as a true Italian food to the Queen.

The pizzas are never cut, our guess is that the chef thinks it is to beautiful. You wouldn't slice up the Mona Lisa, would you? You can get a pizza with any topping, and much like the staple ingredients, they are all super fresh and tasty. But the pizza Margherita is the way to go, especially if you try to eat 20 of them in 1 week. Trust us, we know.

Positano

We trekked down to the harbor in Sorrento, and caught the ferry heading to the Amalfi Coast. There are 2 main villages along the cliffs, the first one is Positano and the second is called Amalfi. We decided to visit Positano, since Steve had this village as his screen saver at work. Travel therapy to make the brown cube a little less brown and a little less cube.

The ferry heads west along the peninsula, dotted with little towns, which makes for a beautiful ride. The sun is warm, with the cool, clean ocean breeze making you dream of moving here. Steve decides that he will have a boat on the ocean by the time he is fifty, and Becky reminds him that is not that for away!

The Island of Capri is just off the point as we make our turn and head south and then east back along the peninsula. We decide that we will head to Capri the next day, and remind ourselves how lucky we are to be able to do this for the 2,947th time.

As you approach Positano, you feel like you are sailing into a picture some artist has painted. The amazing display of colorful homes cling to the cliffs like barnacles, from the edge of the shore to the top of the mountains behind.

As you disembark the ferry, you feel drawn into the maze of walkways and switchbacks lined with restaurants, shops, hotels and homes. There is a small cathedral with a green and gold dome that sparkles in the sunlight, the perfect centerpiece to this gem of a village. You barely realize that you are climbing the mountain, with every turn there is another absolutely incredible view of the ocean.

We stopped for lunch, then had some of the area's famous lemon-ice that is so sweet and refreshing.

This place is all about relaxing, so we sat on the beach, wondering if you lived here would the beauty ever become unappreciated. Kind of like when you have a beautiful picture in your home, or pass by an incredible building every day, and forget to notice it. We decided it would just be impossible not to notice it every day, and we don't think there are many brown cubes in Positano.

Another beautiful, peaceful day, one that will teach us to never forget to notice what is right in front of us every day. And the next time we are here, maybe we will be sailing in on our own boat!

Relaxing at the Esperidi Resort

We finally ran out of gas, I guess 8+ hours at Pompeii will do that to you. We decided that we would not leave the resort today, which was tough with so many great sites and things still to do in the Naples area.

The "resort" we are at, the Esperidi, has a huge contrast from one side to the other. The little cottages are old, and we joke that we are camping since the one room is not much bigger than a tent! All part of the fun, especially since this is the least expensive place we have stayed so far.

Two things that we are starting to figure out; one, we should be booking one of the cheapest hotels in what looks like a nice area of a city. We were at first concerned about the neighborhoods of some of these places we are going, but we are finding out that most of the places are much safer than most American cities. There are so many people, young and old alike, that live life outdoors here. They spend time with neighbors talking in front yards or on the side walk, so crime seems to be not as random as in the U.S. The second thing is that we book the first few nights, then figure out if we want to move to a new hotel or extend the stay at the current one. Plus, we are not sure how long we need to stay in each destination, so shorter hotel commitments are better when you have no idea what you are doing from day to day!

Back to the Esperidi. The other side of the resort is beautiful, with a new "clubhouse" bar, restaurant and cooking school. We thought the cooking school with be a lot of fun, until we saw the price and didn't want to blow the entire week's food budget in one night. Behind the clubhouse, there is a huge pool, with incredible views of the mountains of the Sorrento Peninsula behind. Not a bad place for a day of rest. The days have been very warm, so it has been nice to be staying at a hotel with a pool.

This little guy started visiting us daily after we spoiled him with ziti pomadoro. We would wonder each day if he was going to show up, and like clockwork, there he was at our front door.

One of the interesting things here is that they take there afternoon "siesta" very seriously. They work in the morning, from 8 or 9 am to noon. From noon to 4pm, they take lunch and nap time - how awesome is that? Then, most businesses will reopen from 4pm to 7pm. (we can not figure out why they don't work 60 hour weeks and worry about work the rest of the time like we do). Anyway, the afternoon is meant for relaxation, and they make that clear to the travelers here with a big sign at the pool that reads, "We observe silent time at the pool from 2 to 4 p.m. With respect to others, please; no loud talking, no radios, no splashing, no being obnoxious, it's not all about you. Thank you." OK, that last part was not in there, but you get the point. The sign was not in Italian, it was in English, and that told the story right there!

In all, this has been a fun place to stay, with many interesting characters who work here. Daniel and Grazianna, bartender Luciano, and a quirky restaurant staff all keep it interesting from day to night. And don't forget the 5 a.m. birds with the random song lists! We would love to camp here again some day!

Pompeii

Pompeii has to be one of the most incredible places you can visit on earth. It's as close to a time machine as we are going to get. Most of the ruins that we have seen in Greece, Sicily and even Rome are archaeological sites. Pompeii is an entire city.

Most other sites were destroyed by nature and mankind over thousands of years, and have been restored as much as possible to give us an idea of the past glory. The Coliseum in Rome was stripped of marble and limestone over the years to build other structures throughout Italy. Even sections of the Vatican have been built by recycled parts of the Coliseum!

But Pompeii is different. The city, and it's inhabitants, were frozen in time, buried in 10 feet of ash, cinder and rock. For almost 2,000 years it was left untouched by man. What nature had destroyed in 79 AD, it protected, from then on, like a jewel for future mankind to marvel.

It's fascinating to see the parts of the city that were every day life. You can really feel the difference versus many other sites we had visited. We had seen the grand temples to the Gods, or huge ancient arenas, but most stand alone or are surrounded by complete ruins. Pompeii has long streets lined with shops and restaurants. The homes have courtyards and gardens. There are still grooves in the stone streets where horse drawn carts made their way to the markets.

Along every street there are Thermpolias, which were basically fast food lunch stands serving hot food. They have currently discovered 89, and some look as if they could still be serving food.

A few of the fascinating finds were carbonized loafs of bread in The House of the Baker, and even a plate a spaghetti!

But stand at any of the tiny intersections, and look north, and you will see Mount Vesuvius and be reminded of why this is all here.

Many of the people we spoke with before visiting the city recommended 2 to 4 hours to see everything. Our experience was a little different. After 8+ hours, if it wasn't for closing time, we'd have stayed longer. And to think, they only have four-fifths of the site excavated. We actually were trying to figure out how they would find us if we hid in one of the houses and slept there over night! How do you cut short your day in a time machine?

It's difficult to think about the tragic death of the people who lived here. Most of the inhabitants of Pompeii headed to the shore after Vesuvius erupted in a futile attempt to escape. Some took shelter in their basements, but poisonous gases accompanied the ash and there was no air to breath. Many people perished in the streets, their bodies covered by the volcanic debris. The bodies had long turned to ash, but the volcanic ash surrounding the bodies stayed in tacked to create a perfect mold of their final hours. The excavators preserved these incredible finds by creating the now famous plaster casts of the spaces that they found. The attached photo shows a person sitting, and as you stand in front of it you can feel a tiny piece of the emotions the people of Pompeii must have felt on that morning of August 24th, 79 AD.

As we were wandering down a back street, and found that one of the more intact homes was closed to the public. There was a worker there doing the painstakingly delicate work of restoring the home. He notice us standing out front, clearly disappointed. He came out front, looked both ways to make sure we were not with a tour group, and waved us in! He gave us the private tour, room by room, of the surprisingly vibrant frescoes painted on the walls 2,000 years earlier. He did not speak a word of English, but smiled every time we whispered "bella" (beautiful).

A simple "grazie" could never repay him for the special invite, but if we have learned anything, it's that the people here realize how lucky they are to have these treasures, and how proud they are to share it with people who appreciate it. They are not looking for repayment. They are lucky, but we feel like we are the lucky ones to have spent a day in the time machine known as Pompeii.

Sorrento/San Agnello

San Agnello is the second to last stop on the Circumvesuviana from Naples to Sorrento. It's a quiet, peaceful little town about five minutes by train, or a leisurely 25 minute walk from Sorrento.

We were very excited to have found the place we were staying. They are little cottages with kitchens set in lemon and orange groves (some trees had lemons and oranges on the same tree! see below). Seemed like the perfect place to relax.

You know what else thought the same thing? About 300 birds in the morning! One bird clearly believed in the "early to bed, early to rise" motto. Probably the same one that came up with "the early bird gets the worm" motivational speech. I wonder if he has ever heard the saying "tastes like chicken", because at 5 a.m. the only thing we had to throw at him was a frying pan. After a few mornings though, we started to change our tune, just like our mockingbird friend did every 15 seconds. We started to learn his random song list. We started asking each other "Have you heard this one?" followed by us whistling the tune and laughing hysterically. We started getting LSS, which is Last Song Syndrome, when you just can't get that last song you heard out of your head. We started whistling the tunes in the afternoon, the evening, and were getting excited with the thought of waking up to some new catchy tunes!

We had three favorites: one was just a nice melody, something that Bono from U2 could throw some lyrics over and have another hit. One was the classic play ground taunting call "NA na NA na NA na!". You have to whistle it. Go on, we'll wait. That was fun, wasn't it? It was absolutely hilarious when he threw that one out. The craziest one was a combination of a cat's growl and screech. The bird sounded like a mountain lion, can't imagine a regular cat's reaction when that one was thrown back in it's face!

Our first day we walk into Sorrento. The first thing that we bumped into was a street market outside our resort that had everything you could ever need. What a nice change from a mall and a supermarket.

Once we arrived into Sorrento, you could feel the energy of this little port town in the air. The streets are lined with shops selling all kinds of treasures and edibles, where locals and tourists alike go about their days.

One of the things that the Sorrento peninsula is known for are the huge lemons grown here - some are the size of a football. They are used in many recipes, as decorations, and for the Limoncello liqueur that the region is famous for.

One store that we stopped in had many interesting art pieces including cameos carved from seashells that this area of Italy is known for. The young guy behind the counter was very passionate about being from this part of the country, and very proud to be Italian (we'll let you know when we find someone who is not, I guess that would be easier than repeating it for every Italian we met!). He asked where we were from, and what made us visit the area. Steve told him that he was Italian, and we had a friend for life.

We told him that we had looked up our last name "Giobbi" through Ellisisland.org and found a few Giobbis from Norcia, which is northeast of Rome. Needless to say, he was very excited to have a knowledge of the area, and tried to explain to us that the area is famous for a certain type of meat sandwich, and the special way it is prepared. Now that we were all drooling, he jumped on the internet and started looking up phone numbers for anybody in Norcia with the last name Giobbi. Once he found one, he started dialing!

The conversation that followed was beyond entertaining to listen to, even if we could only understand a few words. The Giobbi family that he spoke with knew of no previous relatives that immigrated to the United States. They did know of one other Giobbi family in the area, but all they knew of them was that they were very old people and did not have a phone. Although we did not discover long lost relatives, it was great to have found the surname was still in the Old Country and sparked an interest to do more research. Who knows, we just might trace the family tree back and find a connection. And they may live in a castle, with a spare room for us on our next visit!

Next, we wandered down to the port where we could take the ferries to the Amalfi Coast and the Island of Capri later in the week.

A few other interesting items from visits to Sorrento:

Small world - while waiting for a pizza, the guy in the shop asked where we were from. He told us the guy making pizza had lived in the U.S. for a few years, but knew no English. He asked the pizza maker where, and he said, ...."Portland, Maine" with a very heavy accent. Steve is originally from Portland, Maine! He worked in a pizza place called "Pizzeria Italia". Even though we could not communicate through words, we knew we had another new friend since the pizza he made us would not even fit in the box! He had to cut a third of it and fold it over calzone style. He was all smiles as Becky knocked on the window and yelled "Grazie! Arrivederci!"

We made dinner in our cottage, which was a nice break from eating out every meal. Another one of the things this area is famous for are the San Marzano tomatoes, which are very sweet and make a great pomadoro sauce. They claim that everything that is grown in the very fertile soil around Mount Vesuvius is extremely different than anything you have had before, and they are right. In keeping with trying local favorites, we tried the carbonated red wine that was very good, and at about $2 a bottle very dangerous.

Not far from where we stayed was a sunset lookout point, one of the most dramatic you could ever imagine. Directly north, looking across the bay of Naples, are the sparkling lights from the the city of Naples (Napoli as the Italians call it). To the east, the ever present volcano Mount Vesuvius reminds all to live every day to the fullest. To the south is basically you, holding your glass of wine, and a small mountain range dotted with homes and a few 500 year old churches. To the west, the Sorrento Peninsula reaches out enclosing the bay of Naples. At the tip, you can see the Island of Capri jetting out of the Mediterranean sea as the sun sets behind it. If ever was a time for "you just have to see it, words can not describe it", this is it.

One one of the cliffs beside this point, there is an old mansion that has fallen into disrepair - it could be the most beautiful home you have ever seen. We asked a local what the story is with it. He told us that the rumor is that a powerful member of the Russian mafia had purchased it for millions of dollars and would begin renovations this summer on it.