Our final morning together began with the most lavish and beautiful breakfast of the entire trip. The dining area where the buffet was located had expansive 180 degree views of the Gulf of Naples. The haze from the previous three days had lifted and the temperature had dropped to a more comfortable 80ish degrees. I sat close to my beloved espresso machine with an aching heart for one last morning. I wanted to tell it how much it meant to me, and how much I cherished our time together. I searched for some kind of signal that it understood... But I knew it wasn't sentient. As it gurgled and spat high-octane Italian coffee into my cup, I knew our love affair was coming to an end. I drank a responsible amount of caffeine and gazed out the huge windows at the water. I could see all the way to Naples and imagined what this place must've looked like through the ages. I tried to get an idea of the scale of the gulf by comparing the various sizes of boats that I could see. We would be boarding a ferry to the island of Capri shortly. I scanned the water for signs of white-caps or anything else that might help me predict what kind of boat ride this would be. Sorrento, as it turns out was the town in which the captain of the Costa Concordia (Francesco Schettino) was being held under house-arrest since 2012 when the ill fated cruise liner ran aground and capsized resulting in the deaths of 32 individuals. I wondered what the gulf had in store for us today.
The drama of our journey would play out in a far more humorous way. And one befitting of my penchant for toilet humor. We began our excursion to Capri by boarding a shuttle bus down to the docks in Sorrento. It was another harrowing and hilarious drive to the waters edge where we boarded a large ferry. The size of the boat gave me some comfort, but my motion sickness kicked in almost immediately. I sweated and tried to look out the window, but the boat ride was jarring and unpleasant. The water was rough and I found myself preferring the winding chaotic switchbacks of the bus ride to the large swells and crashes as the boat battled its way rapidly across the water. At one point my dad started coughing and couldn't seem to stop. It became concerning and we were all kind of worried and wondering what was going on. It was scary and weird and I'm sure slightly embarrassing, but it was also mercifully distracting. He eventually got it under control and we arrived at the docks of Capri along with various other tour groups. Our guide on this day was another character out of a movie. His name was Luigi and he had been guiding tours on Capri for decades. He introduced us to the island with some brief historical facts.
The island of Capri was a kind of vacation spot for Roman emperors. Tiberius ruled at one point from his villa "Jovis" which is on top of a rocky outcrop that you could see from the docks. I took a picture of the stone plaque and long narrow passage up the hill which was built in the time of the emperors. It's impossible to imagine how they built this stuff out of stone so long ago. During World War II, Capri was occupied by German forces but was later liberated by Allied troops in 1943, avoiding major destruction compared to other parts of Italy. Luigi spoke about how he gave many returning veterans tours of the island. This was the spot that the allies landed in order to push the Nazis out of Italy. It was hard to imagine this place being a military base. Modern Capri is now a world-renowned tourist destination, famous for its stunning Blue Grotto, upscale shopping, and breathtaking scenery.
We were standing around waiting to begin our tour as Ursula and Luigi spoke to each other in Italian. I could tell something was wrong by their body language but was at a loss. The Italian language is so incredibly fast when spoken by natives. Eventually we were told that the aqueduct which brings fresh water from the mainland had been damaged somehow and there was NO water available on the island. This had never happened in history apparently, and this was the second world headline we would make on this trip following the heatwave of the previous couple days. No aqueduct meant no toilets, which greatly threatened my expectations for potential cocktails. There was some debate as to whether we should just turn around and get off the island. But the actual order to "evacuate" didn't come till a little later. We pressed on by boarding the "feniculare" which took us up to the top of the island where we would do our walking tour. As we rose higher we could begin to really appreciate the expansive views and fascinating combination of different eras of architecture. As previously noted, this place had been continually inhabited since the days of the Roman empire. It truly looks like it does in the postcards, but its almost impossible to really "get it" unless you're there. It was truly one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen.
We toured the perfume gardens passing through a small alley inhabited by watch stores and boutiques that were utterly mind boggling in terms of their exclusivity. As we paused for pictures and history lessons I noticed the "polizia" walking briskly from place to place. They were informing tourists, business owners and inhabitants that they needed to find their way off the island. It wasn't necessarily a "panic" but it probably should have been. It was hot and there were a lot of people. It definitely had the potential to turn bad. We abbreviated our journey and made our way back down to a little market area as we waited for Ursula to organize our evacuation. It seemed like we had time for at least one or two drinks, so Christie and I sampled some lemon cocktails and bounced around the shops a bit. I found myself in a bit of an aggressive standoff with a cute but feisty dog. I put in my notes that he tried to bite me a couple times. But I think it was a classic case of "all bark".
The return trip was far smoother and allowed just about everybody to fall asleep. Once we were back on shore, Mason and I opted to stay in town and checkout a couple of the soccer jersey stores we had noticed the night before. I figured it would be easy enough to find a taxi or bus back up to the hotel. Besides, I have excellent instincts for international travel and never get lost so what could possibly go wrong? We found our way in and out of a bunch of shops and eventually got hungry so we started to try and decide what and where to eat. It became a bit overwhelming and we didn't want to spoil dinner so we just went into a convenience store and bought chips and a couple of beers. We found our way to a shady spot where we could people watch. We had a tacit understand and trust for Mason to have a few drinks on the trip and he never took advantage. He did a great job going with the flow all week and I had a nice time showing him a standard "Papa side-quest". When it came time for us to find our way back I had to do a little problem solving. I was directed to the taxi stand and we eventually hopped in a nice Mercedes van for the short return ride. I was watching the meter tick as we wound our way up the switchbacks out of town and instantly realized that I was quite low on Euros. We made it back though and I had just enough to pay him and give him a tip.
We spent another afternoon as a family at the pool before returning to our rooms to begin packing for the return trip which was now getting closer and closer. We had each been living out of one small bag for the whole week, so it was more of an organizational chore than anything. Christie and I dressed for the last evening and headed down to the bar for a pre-dinner happy hour and espresso. We found our way to a beautiful shady garden and sat on a swinging bench overlooking the gulf. We reflected on the trip over casamigos tequila and pineapple juice. We were talking about our time in Costa Rica, and just as we were discussing the falling lizards down there our eyes snapped into focus on a lizard at that very moment who fell through the cracked vines overhead. It was hilariously synchronistic. The lizard scurried off and we just kind of shook our heads. "Right place, right time", I guessed.
We boarded a small shuttle as a group one last time and wound our way back down to the waters edge for our final dinner together. It was an amazing family run restaurant. Bright white tile, and low ceilings. We took pictures and told stories and grandpa gave all the boys one more giant dose of grandpa-style advice on "life". We shared wine and laughed and ate too much food. It was a really great way to end the trip together. We returned after dark and were given very clear and explicit instructions on our departure. Our family and a couple other members of our group would be back in the lobby at 3AM for the first leg of our return trip. After compartmentalizing that anxiety, Christie and I headed out to the porch for a night-cap. We ordered a final round of negronis and aperol spritz and sat outside watching people and listening to a funny lounge act. The view from the porch was amazing at night. The lights from the colorful buildings along the coast twinkled like stars, and we watched as the headlights from cars zipped up and down the roads. It was an awesome last evening, but a short one. We forced ourselves to try and get at least a few hours of sleep. Sorrento had been amazing, and we felt lucky to have this opportunity.
My mom has always been a perpetual foil for jokes in our family, and we all take turns laughing at her (and with her) for a variety of things. She has a great sense of humor, and takes it like a champ. I think she knows why she is funny. But she's also tenacious when it comes to fun ideas, and generally making "family" happen. My whole life she has always loved doing things for the family. This whole trip was another one of her grand schemes. It was after all their 50th wedding anniversary! And she wanted us ALL to be together! How cool is that?!?! Of course my dad was on board and supportive as always, but the past year had been a series of eyerolls and joking about how crazy she was to want to do this. For all of the anxieties that I personally had leading up to this trip, it turned out to be one of the absolute best weeks of our lives. Even though I took copious notes, I feel like I only really captured the highlights and headlines of each day. But the moments and hours we spent together with each other on this journey was truly a once in a lifetime experience. My mom and dad are seriously the coolest people and I'm infinitely grateful that they had the ability and desire to include us all...
This may have been the end of the "tour", but the journey was far from over. The true test of a travelers endurance is in the return. And the last leg of this Vadnais Family Odyssey would be the hardest by far. And it would begin in only a few short hours...
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