It seems that the more time I spend in Italy, the more Germans I meet. Not sure where all the Italians are hiding, but I like my German friends. One of my newest friends, Christine, was traveling Italy for about ten weeks, so I told her to call me when she came to Rome. When she arrived I didn't really have much going on so it was nice to have a friend around to spend time with. She spent a few days in Rome and I showed her all the important sites. I really like showing my favorite city to my friends and it feels good to know it fairly well now. Christine was planning to go south to Naples and the Amalfi coast after Rome, and since I was actually wanting to go down there again I decided to go with her. The timing was good since my little house was going to be unavailable to me for two weeks since Anne had already promised it to the school for a student, so I needed to go someplace else anyway. So we went to Sorrento and found a hostel there to stay in for about five nights. It was actually a nice hotel with a spa, but they had converted what I think must have been large storage closets into a couple rooms to rent at hostel prices. So we got a small room with a bunk-bed and a bathroom, but everything was new and really nice, and at 18 euro a night it was a great deal.
Sorrento is located on a peninsula on the southern part of the Bay of Naples and sits at the beginning of the Amalfi Coast. It's also very close to Pompeii and Naples, as well as the island of Capri. So the first day there we decided to take the 20 minute ferry ride to Capri. We arrived at the port and decided to go to the Grotta Azzura first. We took a small bus up the very narrow cliff side road that goes up the hill and to the other side of the island where the grotto is. It's a fun ride and the bus is always just inches away from passing cars and buses, as well as walls and buildings along the road. We passed a girl walking on the road next to a wall and I thought we were going to smash her against the wall. I saw her press her back and arms to the wall and hold her breath, and when she got on the bus at the next stop she told me her feet almost got ran over. Such is life in Capri. 
We made it to the grotto, which is literally a cave in a cliff that drops into the sea. There were several boats floating in front of the entrance waiting to put people into tiny rowboats and take them inside, for a fee of course. We walked down some steps to the water level right next to the opening of the cave. A man in a rowboat came over and we stepped in, along with an Italian couple. 
He took us over to a larger boat where we paid a few euro each for the ride and we then waited for our turn to go inside. There is a very small opening, maybe 4 feet high and 5 feet wide, and you literally have to wait for the waves to calm before the boat can go in without getting smashed into the rocks. The boat "captain" pulls in the oars and grabs a small chain that runs from outside to inside, gives it a good pull and we shoot inside the cave. I've actually been here before but it's a lot of fun. When you get inside it is pretty much pitch black, except for what little light that makes it through the opening and, of course the water. The sun shines into the water outside and the light travels under the cliff face and into the cave up through the water making it glow bright blue, thus the name Grotta Azzura, Blue Grotto. It's beautiful to see, and as you float around inside with about 8 other rowboats the captain tells you about the cave dimensions and then they all sing songs in Italian with their voices echoing off the walls. It really feels like a ride at Disneyland or something. It would be awesome to go swimming in there all alone like the rich Roman vacationers used to do so many years ago.
After leaving the grotto we got another bus to go back to the port. For some reason it only went half-way and we had to wait quite a while for another one. We ended up taking one to the town of Capri, which is on the hill, then waiting for another bus to take us to the port. After all that it was about time to catch the last ferry back to Sorrento. Capri is beautiful, but it's also another tourist trap. We had fun in the grotto but it was a long day just to see that one thing. However, watching the sunset from the boat deck on the way back was a nice way to end the afternoon. How can I go wrong?
Christine with a man in Sorrento trying to earn money for a new head.
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