Shouting from the Hop

THURSDAY
Too tired to get up early, we decided to take things easy during the morning but to go to the island of Capri just before lunchtime. We walked to the ferry terminus, got our tickets and just caught the 11.10 boat. It was full of cruise ship tourists, mainly American. Urgghhhh! Disembarking quickly at the Marina Grande 40 minutes later, we tried to get tickets for the boat trip to the Blue Grotto (one of the highlights of any Capri trip), but unfortunately it was closed due to the slightly rough seas (the row boats have to pass through a 2m by 1m hole on the cliff wall, so even a little sea swell makes it hazardous!). We tried to get the funicular up the hill to Capri town but the ticket queue, and actual queue for the train were horrendous, so we walked - it only took twenty minutes or so. We had a beer in the town square - great for people (or mainly tourist) watching, then set off to find our lunch choice. We got lost, and ended up near the Natural Arch. The restaurant near the arch was closed in August according to our book, so we had a really nice meal there (and a well deserved beer)! We then joined a circular walk back toward town, taking in caves (grottos), cliffs, and terrific views (see above).
We made it back to town, passed by all the designer shops for designer tourists, and had a very nice Gelato in the town square. We then made our choice - did we try to get back down the hill to the ferry by railway, bus or walk, or carry on to Anacapri (the smaller town on the island) and get back to the ferry from there but risk missing our (6.10) timed boat? The bus queue for Anacapri was short, so we jumped on. We arrived at the Anacapri chair-lift (our aim) which takes you to the highest point of the island and after a little gentle persuasion and pushing ("If you think I'm going up a mountainside on that...") I followed the girlfriend skywards. It was a really nice, gentle way to travel; very quiet after all the bustle, slow, but with great views. It took about fifteen minutes to get to the top. We took some photos, and down we came. We decided to go for the ferry but, tight for time, needed a cab to do so. The taxis on Capri are strange - they have canvas awnings as roofs! Very cool (in both senses), we drove down to the marina waving at all the sweaty tourists who had queued for buses or trains or walked down. Onto the boat and back to Naples...
Very tired, we had dinner in the hotel. It was nice food but for some reason the service was painfully slow, so we passed on dessert and retired gracefully.