Plus of Al Molino - Antonietta bends over backwards for us. She drove us to Capri Town this morning and into Anacapri this evening where she helped us find a restaurant.
Con of Al Molino - it's pretty far from everything. The only things nearby (relatively speaking since they're still a far walk) are the bus and a restaurant that's closed on Tuesdays. Today is Tuesday.
Plus of being on Capri in October - it's only very crowded. I can only imagine how crowded it is in the summer.
Con of being on Capri in October - it can be really chilly.
When we arrived yesterday, it was brilliantly sunny and warm. With that it mind, I put on a sundress when I got dressed this morning. It was cool and overcast this morning so I wore a sweater when we went to breakfast. It was so chilly that when we came back to our room before leaving for the day I put on my winter jacket. We'd planned to take the 9:30 bus to Capri Town, but when Antonietta offered us a ride we were glad to accept. She dropped us off at the one (totally insane) rotary on the island. Shops were just getting ready to open and there were no crowds. And the sky was getting brighter. A promising start to our day. We walked around the main areas first. Lou wanted to stop for a coffee. Nope, we'd only just begun. We needed to explore a little more.
Then Lou said, "Let's see where this takes us," and for the next or so I followed him around walking up one hill and down another. We were kind of sort of lost. However we knew we weren't that far off the main tourist areas so climbed up and down until we'd find the crowds. After that adventure, when Lou suggested a coffee, I was totally agreeable. Instead of coffee, we stopped for an early lunch.
After lunch, I got to pick the route. I stayed along the shopping streets until we reached a map that said we were 5 minutes away from Giardini di Augusto. The gardens themselves were nothing special. The views of the surrounding areas were magnificent. What a great spot.
By now, the weather was gorgeous. Jackets were put away. We decided to take the funicular down to Marina Grande to see if we could take a boat tour of the island. The first ticket booth said no. We could only go to the Blue Grotto. A man approached us. Did we want to go out with him on his boat? The licensed company wasn't going out so we were a bit leery about going out with an illegal boat captain. Time for some gelato while we thought things over. While eating our gelato, an Englsh-speaking couple sat down a few tables away and were relaying to friends how much they didn't enjoy the boat ride to the Blue Grotto. There was too much bouncing around time waiting to get in. It was clear if they ever did get in, but the overall feeling was that of disappointment. After our snack we approached another boat company. Blue Grotto or nothing. We got back on the funicular up to Capri Town.
The crowds had multiplied while we were at the marina. We started walking back towards the rotary and entertained ourselves for quite awhile watching the crazy drivers manipulate around this thing. It made the rotary at Citrus Hills that we're always complaining about look sane!
Lou hates crowds but I'm not too fond of them either. We decided to skip town and take a bus to the Blue Grotto. Naturally it wouldn't be the same as going in, but we could have a look. For the second time since we've been here, a young man gave up his seat on the bus to me. Sack, I must be old! Lou thinks it's just what Italian young men are taught to do for any woman. I tend to doubt that. After walking most of the day, I was grateful to be seated on the bus. We weren't sure if the bus we were on was going past the center of Anacapri to the Blue Grotto so we got off and got on another that we were sure of.
The ride alone was pretty special. We got off at the last stop and walked down towards the Blue Grotto. Lou hung around at the snack bar while I climbed all the way down. Because of the way the entrance is angled, short of jumping in the water and swimming in, I wasn't going to see what it looked like inside. We walked the long way back to the bus stop. We took the bus back to Al Mulino.
We'd both noticed a sign for a ristorante up the same street of the hotel so we started to walk over to see if they were open. We kept walking and turning, turning and walking. How far away was this ristorante? Finally it was in view. Down a long hill. "What if we walk all the way down there and it's not open?" We headed back to the hotel. As we were walking Lou reflected, "Do we really want such a long walk back after dinner? That's what's wrong with this place. There's nothing close!" I had to agree.
Back in our room, we checked restaurants on Trip Advisor and Yelp. The "nearby" restaurant isn't open on Tuesdays. We couldn't make heads nor tails of the maps we had. We figured we'd take the bus back to Anacapri Center and look for a restaurant. If we couldn't find one, we'd go back to where we are last night.
As we were walking out to the bus, Antonietta asked us where we were going. When we told her, she offered us not only a ride but assistance in finding another nice place to eat. The first place she drove to was closed. We had better luck at the second spot. The bonus was that La Tablita was just a short walk to the bus back to the hotel.
The only thing that marred our dinner was the young couple at the next table. They were obnoxious young Americans. Spoiled, loud, foul-mouthed. They give young Americans a bad name and sure left an ugly taste in our mouths.
Uneventful trip back to the hotel. I hope tonight's limoncello night cap allows me to sleep as soundly as I did last night. Buona notte.
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