On day 8 we had an early start to what would be the most amazing day ever. While we waited for our boat to the beautiful island of Capri, we spent some time sunbathing outside our hotel in Sorrento. It was another sunny, hot day- perfect for our Capri excursion. I couldn't wait to swim in the Tyrrhenian Sea! I had only ever seen pictures of Capri and the beautiful water that surrounded it. This stop was high up on my bucket list and I was so eager to check it off. It's definitely not a one-and-done though, I WILL be back to Capri as soon as I possibly can.
Isn't it stunning?! We arrived in Capri and my excitement was through the roof. I felt like a child. Everything about my world on that day sparkled- the world was new again in my eyes. Something in the air made me feel more high off of life than I have ever felt before. My soul was more alive than ever. I felt so at home. I mean, who wouldn't though? But really, it was an indescribable feeling. We took the funicular up to the main town, where we had our guided tour of Capri. To be honest, I didn't hear most of what our tour guide said. I was in my own world, entranced by the beauty of this place.
We went through this beautiful garden that lead to an unbelievable view of the water. The garden was filled with all kinds of bright colored flowers, which climbed the stone walls and lined the walkways. Sculptures sat in different parts of the garden adding to the tranquil, zen essence of this peaceful place. It was ridiculously charming. When I hit the lottery and find the man of my dreams, I'm totally getting married in this garden. |
After our tour we had some free time before we had to regroup for a private boat tour around island. We all had the same idea- BEACH. Our tour guide gave us tickets for the funicular to head down to the "bitch," as she called it. Because of her accent, it sounded like she was saying "bitch" every time she referred to the beach. Somehow I kept my shit in check. On the inside I was dying, but only because she riddled off the word bitch like 3 times in one sentence at one point. Too much, too funny. Before we headed down to the bitch, we stopped for granitas, which are lemon slushy-type drinks. The lemons in Italy were unbelievably large. The picture doesn't really capture their largeness quite as well as I would like. They're basically 4-5 times bigger than the lemons we have here in the States. They made great granitas. Since walking is what we did best at this point in the trip, we made the trek down to the bitch on foot like a bunch of athletes. The beach was gorgeous but completely covered in rocks. By this I mean there wasn't any sand- it was literally just rocks. It made getting out into the water a bit tricky- we were falling all over each other looking like a bunch of awkward Americans slipping on the rocks in the shallow water. Once we were out in the water past the rocks- life was better than ever. We had so much fun taking underwater pictures and floating in the sun. Every once in a while a boat would come in and send massive waves our way, which was SO much fun. I got spanked in the face with a few waves, though, and I ingested more salt water than I would have preferred. After swimming, we all starfished on the rocks for a quick snooze and some sunshine. We all met up with our tour guide at our special, private boat for the tour. It was nothing short of amazing. Let me tell you- there's nothing better than being on a boat with amazing people cruising over turquoise waves on the Amalfi Coast...NOTHING. We had a blast. We saw the blue and coral caves, which were beautiful. I wish we could have gone into the blue cave, but that's totally something I'm going to do someday. Of course, we saw the two limestone rocks that soar out of the water. They were beautiful. Our tour guide told us to make a wish as we were going under the arch of the rock. So, I did. :] |
After our boat tour, we grabbed a very yummy bite to eat. I got an eggplant, pepper, and cheese sandwich on focaccia bread. I was so excited to finally have eggplant! I love eggplant but hadn't had the opportunity to dive into it until that gorgeous day in Capri. I may have enjoyed it just a little. I mean, you be the judge. | After a beautifully long day in Capri, it was time to catch the boat back to Sorrento. We all fell asleep on each other on the ride back. The day was perfect but exhausting. All the walking, swimming, and sunshine had us doing the eyes-closed-mouth-wide-open-awkward-head-nod-and-body-twitch on the boat ride back. Once we arrived back in Sorrento, we boarded our bus for Rome. |
The day was far from over, though. We checked into our hotel in Rome, which was definitely a nice one! We got ready for dinner and we were off. Dinner was at a small trattoria that evening. They had uh-maz-ing food. Kevin and I shared a pizza with spicy salami on it and a bowl of bucatini all'amatriciana. It was Heavenly. We somehow managed to eat everything. I'm not even ashamed.
After dinner we set off to the Fontana Di Trevi- BUT, not before we got some gelato of course. Mike brought us to THE best gelato shop we had been to yet- it was called Gelateria Valentino. I got coco and nocciola. I don't know how I managed to put the whole cup away, but I did. It was too amazing not to finish every last bite of it. Mike insisted that we eat our gelato slowly so that we could enjoy it romantically by the Trevi Fountain. I suppose he was right- there was something romantical about eating gelato by the Trevi. There was something romantical about eating in Italy, period. The cuisine was such an important part of the experience. It's no secret by now, I made sweet love to gelato every single day.
The day had finally come to a bittersweet end. After looking back on each day of my trip and reminiscing through my writing, I'm truly impressed. We did SO much each day that we were there. It makes me feel miserably unproductive in my real life here in the States. I guess that's just one more reason why I need to move there, right? :] Right.