AUGUST 1st
caught a bus bright and early in the morning to catch a ferry to the gorgeous island of Capri!
paid for a coastal tour of the island by boat which included a stop a the Blue Grotto which is a rather large cave that only has a small opening. if the sea is too rough, it's inaccessible, but luckily for us it was calm enough. it wasn't calm, but just not TOO rough! when we first arrived in Capri, they said we wouldn't be able to go in due to the sea condition but by the time we got there, it'd eased up a bit. one of the guys at the minbak at been to Capri two days in a row and both days couldn't visit the grotto, so i guess we were lucky.
you have to pay extra to go in cos it requires you to jump in a small boat that can only fit 4 people and the oarsman. they definitely know how to milk you for all you've got. i think you actually pay for two separate tickets - one for the boat and one for entrance to the grotto. bit steep really for what it is, but meh, that's what being a tourist is all about!
once the boat gets to the entrance, you have to lie flat in the boat and the oarsman pulls in the oars. he then grabs onto a chain which is permanently attached to the cave and waits for the waves to dip down enough. then he drags the boat thru the hole using the chain and suddenly you're in peaceful waters. the reason it's called the Blue Grotto is that the way the light enters the cave thru the entrance makes the most amazing sapphire blue colour.
a bit of paddling around (enough time for us to take photos and not too long or we'd be holding up the next boat load of tourists!) and then out again. was sure almost cracked my head on the way out!
tour continued on around the island, stopping at various famous or pretty spots.
back at the port we caught a bus up to Anacapri. it was insane! they crowd as many people as possible onto this tiny mini-van kinda bus which then hoons up narrow roads that are on the edge the cliffs. you really don't want to sit on the right side of the bus - like i did - cos all you see is an unforgiving, straight down drop to your doom!
from Anacapri there's a chair lift up the mountain! was good fun and the views were great. but up the top was amazing. we were up in the clouds! on one side, it was clear and you could see down to the city. on the other side, it was like someone had erased the world. just pure, blank white. really peaceful too.
down the chair lift again (some chick was sun bathing topless almost directly under the chair lift towards the end!) and wandered around Anacapri a bit. almost bought you an italian leather hand bag that we thought you would've liked mum, but it turned out to be 500euros so you might have to wait till next time! ;-)
after lunch we caught the ferry back to Naples. were so tired that once we'd sat down, we fell asleep and the next thing we knew, we'd arrived in Naples!
at the train station, we booked tickets for the next day and i got G to take a photo of me with one of the station police who get around on Segways!
That night we had the best pizza ever. Again LP recommended and just around the corner from the place we'd eaten the night before.
Pizzeria da Michele.
that name again...
Pizzeria da Michele.
When we got there, we had to grab a ticket and wait for a table. 10 minutes later we sat down and checked out the menu which was stuck to the wall.
it went something like this:
1 - Margherita (medium, large or double cheese)
2 - Marinara (medium or large)
Coke, Fanta, Water or Beer
and that was it!
can't remember the prices exactly, but it was only 3 - 4 euros for the pizzas! we had the double cheese margherita and the medium marinara. both were big and tasty! we also ordered two cokes and the total bill ended up being 11 euro!
ARGH! TOO CHEAP! TOO DELICIOUS!
personally i don't think i'd piss on Naples if it was on fire, but i would charge into the blazing inferno to save the chefs of Pizzeria da Michele!
we slept well that night with happy bellies!
SIDENOTE: gonna have to check this out when (if?) we return to oz (or someone can leave an informative comment on the blog!), but marinara in italy has nothing to do with seafood. it has more to do with garlic i think. i have been enlightened...
3 comments:
http://www.italianchef.com/marinara.html
Marinara derives from the Italian word for sailor, marinaro. Due to these origins I have seen many people say that marinara sauce must contain something from the sea, usually anchovies. Actually this is not the case, the origins of marinara sauce are that it is the sauce that they made in Naples for the sailors when they returned from the sea. It is very important to master making a good marinara sauce. Not only is it delicious on it's own over pasta, but as you will see by browsing this site it is a good starting point for many other recipes.
Serves 6
1/4 cup of olive oil
4 cloves of garlic sliced in half
1 35oz can of imported Italian tomatoes
3 basil leaves, washed, patted dry and chopped
1/2 teaspoon of oregano
salt & pepper to taste
1. Place garlic and olive oil in large sauce pan.
2. Turn heat to medium and cook until garlic is soft and lightly browned.
3. Crush the tomatoes and add with their juices.
4. Fill empty tomato can 1/4 of the way with water and pour in with tomatoes
5. Add basil, oregano, salt and pepper.
6. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer and cook until thickened approximately 20 to 30 minutes.
Whoever you are anonymous coward, cheers!! will have to give that recipe a go!
Nice to see some posts from you even though they are a tad late but understand the hassles of finding internet sites and not wanting to waste too many hours sitting and typing.
Lovely the idea of the Italian handbag but not the price. Please don't spend that much on my giftee. A handbag's a good idea but I don't want you going overboard.
I love the fact that the anonymous coward sent you the recipe. Danke Schon, anonymous coward. Blessings for sharing your knowledge.
Evving's mum :-)
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