Capri - a bus, three boats, and a grotto

My mother and I took a day trip from Rome to the idyllic island of Capri. After a three hour bus ride followed by a 45 minutes ferry ride we arrived in Capri harbor, only to board another small boat in the hopes of beating the rest of the tourists, scrambling with their respective tour guides, to the Blue Grotto. We beat some of them but still had to sit in our bobbing boat for another 45 minutes until we were loaded, in fours, into small rowboats. I didn't really know what we were getting ourselves into until the boatman told us all to lay down and I saw up ahead of me a very small opening in the rocks (see above). With a gust of air and a spray of sea water we were pulled into the dark grotto crammed with about 10 other boats whose rowers were all belting out Italian tunes (think "O Sole Mio"). The water was, in fact, very blue and quite beautiful. After a short loop inside the grotto our turn was up, but just as our boat was about to exit the cave a large wave came crashing through the opening, causing our boat to rock up, almost bashing my mother's head against the rock.

After we emerged back into the Neapolitan sun, we were taken back to shore and loaded into buses for the 10 minute drive up the side of the island to Anacapri which is at the top of the island (the view from which you see above). The rest of our afternoon was spent wandering the charming town, before it was time to make the four hour trip back to Rome. All in all, I am glad to have seen Capri, though my tolerance for organized tours in big groups is ever-thinning.