Amalfi Coast Part 2

More Amalfi Coast!!  

Day 2 was amazing!  We rented our own boat to take out in the big blue ocean.  It was pricey, but so worth it and so much fun!  

We were a little nervous about taking Mr. Sully Pants out on the boat, but it was great!  He loved it!

Our handsome captain

We had fun gathering sea glass the whole time we were there.  

The views were amazing!  We were able to see all the towns from the boat.  

We rode out about 2 hours to the island of Capri so that we could see The Blue Grotto.  Here's a description:  

The Blue Grotto (Italian: Grotta Azzurra) is a sea cave on the coast of the island of Capri, southern Italy. Sunlight, passing through an underwater cavity and shining through the seawater, creates a blue reflection that illuminates the cavern. The cave extends some 50 metres into the cliff at the surface, and is about 150 metres deep, with a sandy bottom.^[1]

The line to get in was crazy long and the entrance to the cave looked a little treacherous.  As the tide comes in, the entry gets harder and harder to get into.  Men in big row boats come and pick you up from your motorboat.  Then they make their way to the line that goes into the cave.  

As we got closer to the front of the line, we were told to lay down flat on the bottom of the boat.  I'm not sure how it worked out this way, but Jason was on one side of the boat and I had all the kiddos on the other side.  Now, imagine me trying to get them all to lay flat so that their heads don't get bashed against the top of the rocky entrance to the cave.  Sullivan was not a fan.  

I'm smiling in the picture, but I was crying on the inside.  All of the people waiting in the line were looking at us like we were crazy.  First off....four kids and second, a screaming baby.  

We made it in!  That little white light is the entrance.  The reflection was beautiful!  Once in a lifetime.  We didn't stay in too long because Sullivan started getting upset and we didn't want to ruin other visitors experience with a bawling baby in the background.  

Jason tried to get a good picture of us all, but Benny looked drunk in all of them.  This is the one that he looked the least dazed in.  Sullivan was NOT happy.  So.....we made our way to the same place we came in and lay down flat on the back.  Imagine me pressing Sully's head into my chest as he fights me.  It was kinda scary.  

Once we got out he was a happy camper.  We set out for the long ride back to Maiori.  

The kiddos wanted to stop for a swim after a while.  

Benny got a fat lip just moments before we got on the boat.  He and Graham were playing and he hit his mouth.  He kept asking, "can we please just go back to our beach?"  

I took over captain duties for a short time while Jason fed Sullivan.  

Finally, Benny fell asleep and the world was a little less whiney, for a time.  Poor guy!

We decided to dock the boat and go into the town of Positano.  We brought our boat close to the marina and some men came and picked us up and took us to shore.  We, of course, had to pay for this service, but it was very convenient.  

I LOVE Positano!  What a beautiful town!  It was quite crowded with summer vacationers, but it was lovely!

Benny agreed to pose for a couple shots.  

We walked around for a bit and got some gelato.  Then we were back on the boat to make our way to our home away from home.  

Sullivan finally gave in and took a nap.  

We got back to Maiori and showered up.  Then we headed back to one of our favorite pizza shops to eat.  Graham LOVED the arancini (pronounced AR-AN-CHEE-NEE).  

The next day we loaded up and made our way back to Naples.  We stayed one more night with Jason there on the base and then the kids and I loaded up and made our way home.  Here's Graham on the ferry from mainland Italy to our beloved Sicily.  

Quite the adventurous trip!  I hope we make it back there before we leave.