Anyway, on out last full day on Capri we got up early and bought tickets for a boat tour around the island that makes a stop at the famous Blue Grotto, which was once a swimming hole for Tiberius and all of his "little fishies." The scenic views from the boat were outstanding and the Fragolini rocks were surreal giants, crouching and looming up out of the strangely calm ocean.
After pausing briefly at some of the other geological wonders that dapple the island shores, we arrived at the Blue Grotto. The wait for the tiny little row boats that take you through the Grotto's narrow entrance was around 45 minutes and the sun was brutal. But we waited it out and finally got a rowboat and jockeyed with the other rowboats for entrance into the Blue Grotto. I thought the Blue Grotto was going to be cheesy. Another lame tourist attraction. I was wrong. The Blue Grotto is stunning and they weren't lying when they said it was blue. It's a shimmering turquoise blue and it encompasses you, it was like being in a dream.
After debarking from the boat we headed back to the hotel for awhile since the sun on the boat had drained the life out of us. Once we had woken up from a nap we decided we were going to make the hike up to the Villa Jovis, the ruins of the Emperor Tiberius' palace.
What the hell was Tiberius thinking?
Moreover, what the hell were we thinking?
The walk up to the Villa Jovis consists of several intermittent inclined hills. Steep inclines. Extremely steep 400 ft inclines. Not to mention that it was also extremely hot as we made the ascent.
I swear the cicadas were laughing at us.
When we finally reached the summit, we took a quick walk around the ruins, marveled at the scenery and congratulated ourselves on actually making it to the top without any injuries or death.
When we made it back to the hotel we got cleaned up and walked to a restaurant that Ettori, the hotel manager, suggested. The restaurant was called Edvino and it was a tiny hole in the wall. Everyone who walked into the dinning room knew all of the other patrons there. It was fun to feel like we were locals even though we were the only people there who didn't speak Italian and it was by far the best meal I had had in Italy on this trip.
The next morning we packed the last of our things and took the first boat out to Napoli. While on the boat we were serenaded with 1960's Italian rock music which I found so awesome for some odd reason. We arrived at the airport and boarded a plane to Athens.
On the 17th we arrived in Athens. There are currently large wild fires happening so the view of the city as we landed was very hazy. I was afraid it was pollution. We got settled into our hotel then we went to the National Archeological Museum. It's a fairly large museum and we didn't have much time to see it before it closed. the highlight of the museum would be the bronze statue of Zeus/Poseidon (they don't really know definitively which one it is). I had seen photographs of it quite often in my text books but it is so much more impressive when you see it in person.
I had heard a lot of mixed reviews about Athens before arriving here but after having spent the first day in Athens I felt that all of the negative things I had heard were wrong. I think Athens is an amazing city. My only real negative experience has been between the schiester taxi drivers. I've found that it's not uncommon for them to lie
"Okiiee, that 10 euro."
"But the meter says 5...."
"It rush hour"
"Isn't it noon right now... on a Saturday?"
But other than that, it's a great city.
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