A Beautiful Day in Capri

We started the day reasonably early in the hopes of seeing Capri and maybe some of the Amalfi Coast on the way home at night (pretty irrational hope) . Early for us turned out to be about 9:30 so not really that early.

Anyway we made our way down to the docks on foot. We didn't really know where it was, the region on our map was covered by a huge picture of a boat. So we were walking around the industrial region of the docks, generally getting in the way.

The day was turning out to be pretty hot, which at the time was uncomfortable but I knew we would appreciate it later in the day, Eventually we arrived at the right docks, and I chose this time to tell Jen that we didn't actually have any money left and we would need a cash machine. There was one around the ticket booths, but apparently “The link is Down” which is what they seem to say when you use an international card that it doesn't like. But it turned out that the tickets could be purchased with Visa so we were fine, we just hoped we would find a money spot in Capri somewhere.

The hydrofoil over was quite exciting, we would find out later that the seas were considered rough. The boat had a group of school children on board who would make whooaa'ing noises as we dipped. And a big boat hand stood watching us all holding sick bags, in case it got too much, which it did for some.

As we came closer to Capri we were in awe of how pretty it is. As you approach the island you see tall cliff faces topped with trees and and the occasional building, and nestled between them is Grande Marina, the big docks. Which is part of the town of Capri and spills out from the top of a hill down to the water.

We got out in the sun and breathed in the clean air and peacefulness of the place, even as 50 other tourists did the same getting off the boat.

We didn't really have an agenda for the day, just thought we would wander around, maybe see the famous Azzura Grotto, which is cave you can take little boats in. This was unfortunately off limits today because of the rough seas. So we decided to head toward the centre of the island and Anacapri, which is the islands only other town and is near some items that we saw in our travel guide.

Luckily after a little bit of hunting we found an Bancomat and were able to get the cash we would need to appreciate the islands beauty, or so the signs say. We used said cash to buy tickets for the bus to Anacapri.

The buses in Capri and in fact all the vehicles are smaller than usual, so that they can navigate the tiny little roads that wind up the mountains. The bus ride made the trip across the Mediterranean sea to Capri well worth it. Jen and I stared in awe and tried to take photos of the vistas that the road to Anacapri awarded. At one point where the cliff edge we drove along seemed especially precarious and the views especially awe inspiring the bus driver and a local had an animated conversation about something apparently more important than plummeting to our deaths.

Anacapri is on a higher plateaux than Capri the town and so affords some fantastic views of the rest of the island.

When we arrived in Anacapri we decided to have a light lunch, of prosciutto sandwiches and a Coke. It was lovely sitting in the shade on a nice sunny day in a beautiful little town on beautiful little island. But we would find that the price of this luxury is quite high. Our two sandwiches and a coke cost 22e.

We had decided while sitting that we would take the chairlift up to the very topmost part of the island and lounge in the sun doing not much. We walked to where the nearby chairlift terminal is and gaped at the extent of the chairlift, which on the map looks quite small. The lift was a single seater with a little bar, it stretched for more than a kilometre across the island and up the side of the mountain Although there was a reasonable group at the bottom of the lift, there was no one on the entire length of it. Not a great sign, but we decided to press forward. The ride was actually quite sedate, we rode over peoples gardens and back lawns and some waved as we went over. I had the camera and tried to get some good photos, but I don't think they truly showed how the experience was. Nearer the top it got a little cold from the wind, but once we were up there the sun was out the day was calm.

Our first view from up there, was down the other side of the island, which descends its entire hight to the rocks below, truly an astonishing view.
We milled around taking in all the views from different directions, there was only one or two people up there. The facilities were what looked like an abandoned restaurant or perhaps a Roman villa. It was probably both.

After looking around for a bit we decide to find somewhere comfortable to sit and enjoy the day. We walked a little way from the buildings picking our way through the rocks and eventually settled on somewhere that had rocks enough to sit on.

Here comes the part that I'm sure you already know about and are anticipating. This moment had been building up for me for some time, I hadn't planned anything but knew that I wanted to do it.

Where we sat the sun shone down on us and we could see some views across the top of the island. The spot was peaceful and there was no wind. In front of us was a small bush that had a gecko climbing up it. And all around us were pretty purple flowers, whose name I don't know but I will find out as soon as I can, so far I haven't found them anywhere but Capri.

As I rolled one I had picked in my fingers a thought crossed my mind that wouldn't go away. I bent the flower and rolled it into a little loop, but it snapped and broke. Jen asked what I was up to, she was sitting a little bit behind me. I gave her the top part of the broken flower, resolved in my mind that I had missed a moment and could relax. But after not long at all the thought crept back and got more insistent, so I picked another flower this one stronger than the last but just as pretty.

I rolled it into a little loop, and then sat, enjoying the day and mentally building my courage. After minutes of sitting silently while Jen was taking a photo of the gecko, she realised she had lost the first flower I gave her. She said “aww I lost my flower”, I said “here have this one.” And I turned around caught her left hand and pushed the flower ring onto her finger. Her eyes went wide and a big grin spread across here face. She started reacting say “Hey that's the romantic finger” or something near it. I interrupted her and blurted the words that had been my mantra for the last few minutes. “Will you Marry Me?” Then I stood up and faced her better and pulled the sunglasses off her face. My voice was a bit shaky but I said “Jennifer Alison Mason will you Marry Me?” Jen's middle name is actually Alice, but I think in my rush I mixed Alice and Mason or perhaps it was a Freudian slip, but anyway... She jumped up eagerly and said “Yes!” Then kissed my quickly and hugged me tightly.

I had known for quite a while that I would ask her, and I felt pretty confident that she would say yes, but the timing and the place were what kept me thinking at nights. I hadn't planned to do it in Capri but I knew that as I delayed too long at some stage I would run out of fantastic romantic spots. The ring also was something that was a bit of an issue for me, I don't really know anything about jewellery or the traditions around engagement rings, and also how would I pay for it and how would I distract Jen long enough to buy it. But at some stage part of me realised these were all just procrastination excuses and Jen wouldn't mind what the ring was or where I did it.

So anyway, we were sitting on the hill in Capri and I thought, there is never going to be a better spot and this flower ring is better than anything else I'm going to find. If I didn't do it then, then I would kick myself for ages and finally settle on some place not half as good.

So it turns out I lucked out. I don't think it could have gone any better, even if I had hired a coven of marriage planners with all the money in the world.

We spent the rest of the day in a daze, calling each other fiancée and giggling. The weather stayed good all day. We had some gelato and took the bus back to Capri, which took a while because suddenly the buses were all full. But we didn't mind too much. ^_^