Well, I slipped off a boat first thing this morning.
Mom and I got ready for our day trip to Capri, ate breakfast in our little kitchen and walked down to the marina hotel we were getting picked up at.. all before 7:30am. We. Are. Tired.
When the driver picked us up, we were the second group of people, and the couple already in the van is from Texas. That lady was chatty as hell for it to not even be 8am. Mom kept shooting me looks like I was the one talking, haha, at least we know I come by my morning irritability honestly. When we picked up everyone else (a total of like 10 people in our van) and finally got to the doc, we had to check in and get our group numbers. Chatty lady and husband are in our group.
Mom disappeared to find coffee, it was too hot already so she got me a coke.. when we went to get on our boat, there was a drop to the deck.. I was holding my open glass coke bottle in my left hand, my waterproof bag with our wallets was looped around my right arm and my cell phone was in my right hand. I thought briefly that the boat deck looked slippery, but mom handled it fine.. plus the captain holds your arm to steady you..
The captain held my left arm, I stepped down with my right foot.. and it slipped out from under me directly into the water. So picture it: this man is holding my left arm with my coke in hand, my right leg up to my waist is in the sea, my left leg is splayed out in front of us trying to make connection.. I’m in a bathing suit and a coverup dress. Lord have mercy. What a scene. As my left arm goes into the water, I toss my cell phone onto the boat praying to connect with cushions and not slide off the other side.. then I fling up the bag, the whole while the captain isn’t letting my big ass go-I’m telling him to let go, I don’t want to pull him in with me, and y’all-I’m going down.. it all happened so damn fast!
Someone else ran up and grabbed me too and between him and the captain they saved me from a complete submersion. How? I really have no idea-they stand me up, look me over-my hair is dry, my coke it upright without a drop spilt, my left arm is starting to bruise a bit and my right shin is starting to swell and bleed a tad-but overall, with all the adrenaline I guess, I was fine! Mom had missed the whole thing from when I slipped until I was yanked up and put back standing, it had to have been less than 10-15 seconds of pure chaos. Hahahaha
So, from that moment forward: I was not trusted to walk alone on the boat, step on or off the boat without my hand being held-that poor captain, Gianluca, looked like he was going through flashbacks every time I moved anywhere.. it was pretty damn funny. The couple I sat next to (which I think they may actually be friends or siblings) Juan and Caro, checked to make sure I was actually ok once everyone seemed to calm down.. mom kept staring at me and asking if I was ok, like I was suddenly going to freak out or something lol.. ahhh, good times.
Anyway, we went straight to the Blue Grotto by the island of Capri from the marina. We paid €14 each to get into a tiny rowboat (Gianluca looked ready to have a stroke watching me do that), with a man that paddled us in through the tiny hole, took us around in a circle while singing, and back out again. And then he asked for a €10 tip. Uhhh, excuse me? Don’t get me wrong, it was beautiful in there, the water literally looked like it was glowing blue and we did enjoy all 3 and half minutes of it.. but we were in there with about 10 other boats, all with men randomly singing in Italian (pretty neat really), and then boom, we were back out again.
When I go to give him a €2 coin, he says, “you don’t think I’m worth the €10? Haha, uh, honestly, no.. I don’t. So, I just said, “you can have the €2” and we stared at each other a second and he realized I was budging. The couple from Texas tipped a €10.. so €12 for 5 minutes seems pretty legit to me.
So, from there we got back on our boat and went to Capri. We arrived by 10am and didn’t have to be back by 3:15.. which sounds great, except we thought this was a swimming thing and here we are in bathing suits walking around a town. Yikes. We end up meeting another couple from our boat, Allison and Jimmy, and Mom and I plus Juan and Caro all kinda stuck together. We took a bus to AnaCapri, a town on top of the mountain of the island. It had gorgeous views of the bay that only got better as we went up the gondola to the top of Mount Solaro.
As gorgeous as it was, we all got bored a little quick. We had to take a timed bus back down into Capri, and there wasn’t anything really to look at while we waited. Mom and I got drinks and we all sat and chatted in the heat waiting for the bus. When it finally came, it took us into Capri and we had 3 hours to explore..
We all ended up splitting up, mom and I went and got drinks and split a pizza on a terrace with gorgeous views of the water.. the only issue-it was SO FLIPPIN HOT! We literally dripped sweat all day long. We all thought we’d be swimming and day drinking on this boat tour, this isn’t quite what we were expecting. Capri is stunning, but walking around in hoards of people during the peak part of the day was a bit-dare I say it-miserable.
I did end up buying a bathing suit and a cute coverup in one of the shops. Mom and I played the game of shopping only in the stores with very good air conditioner. It didn’t matter what they were selling, cigars? Bourbon? €3,500 sweaters? Yep, we wanna see every single one.. hahaha
We were thrilled when it was finally time to get back down to the marina to board our boat. Gianluca and Andrea, his skipper, took us around the island by boat to different scenic spots. We say the green grotto, the big rocks that jut up out of the water that Capri is famous for, heart cove, and a few other spots, one with a waterfall. We finally got to swim and have beer and listen to music! Now THIS is what we’ve all been wanting!
When it was time to pull back into the marina to end the day, I tell our new friends that this looks a lot like our marina-like that yellow building up there with a terrace looks like our apartment. Come to find out.. this IS our marina! We actually docked at our marina, and while everyone else walked to the van-mom and I walked up the stairs to our apartment! We were probably inside before they even made it to the top of the hill in the van! Wahoo!
We showered and got ready for our dinner at Donna Sofia. When we walked over, we were seated immediately, on the terrace outside. It was picture perfect out there! I ordered the seafood risotto, which I loved! Thankfully the seafood part was just shrimp, and nothing still had its head on it-whew. It was maybe too 3 of my favorite meals. Mom just got grilled veggies and I swear the waiter looked like he was actively having a coronary when he couldn’t talk her into adding something else lol-poor buddy.
After dinner, we perused the little shops on the way to a pharmacy. At the pharmacy I set up our appointment for our covid test to get into Malta for tomorrow at 6pm. Then we walked over to the lemon tree restaurant for kicks and giggles to see about a reservation for tomorrow. The line to get in was a long one, and when I finally got to ask, the lady said they were booked but if it was just the two of us we could come tomorrow at exactly 7 and try our luck with being sat-but she couldn’t promise. Hmmm.. ok, we have to be down the road a little at 6 for the tests, so this could work out!
We slowly walked around and meandered back to our room. Today turned out to be incredible, even after I busted my shin and took an unexpected dip first thing this morning. I’d say, all in all, today was a great day. Tomorrow is a free day, so we plan to sleep in and then check out the beach Juan and Caro told us about until it’s time for our covid tests. I think we’re both ready to sleep in after the last 3 early days!