Boat Around Capri, Funicular, Funiculi

"You know, like the song Funiculi, Funicula."

Offering a rare bit of local color, our Capri guide referenced a song that I remember well from my childhood.

I finally got around to looking up the happy ditty's background this morning.  The song actually pre-dated 1960's era covers and was not about this particular Funiculare.

Composed in 1880 by Luigi Denza, the lyrics were written for the grand opening of an earlier funicular that ascended Mount Vesuvius.  Repeated damage from active volcanic eruptions resulted in that funicular being permanently shuttered in the 1940s.

According to Classic FM, composer Richard Strauss mistook it for a traditional Neapolitan folk song while on a trip to Italy.  He included the melody in the fourth movement of his 1886 composition Aus Italien to represent the region.  That's a "quotation" practice followed surprisingly often by Symphony Hall's serious music composers.

Funiculi, Funicula was the equivalent of a hit in the age of sheet music, selling over a million copies, so Denza prevailed in a copyright infringement lawsuit against Strauss.

And you thought classical composers had nothing in common with hip-hop artists like Diddy who sample classic rock?

With that melody playing in my head on the short ride in a typically crowded funicular car, we rode down to sea level, then guided to the recommended tour boat company.  As to whether it was the best value or just the one that gave  a kickback to our excursions company is uncertain, but I can say that we enjoyed the boat ride immensely.

The views all around the island were terrific.

Our boat's Skipper recited various places we paused for photos, but for the most part we just relaxed on the bow of the motor boat, taking in the gorgeous views, enjoying the sunny day.

We went to all of the highlights listed on the sign for the Tour Around the Island.

The headline attraction was the famous Blue Grotto (Grotta Azzurra), and the light shining through the tunnel from the other side makes the water color spectacular.  It comes near the end of the boat ride, as a big finish should.

It's easy to understand why Roman Emperor Tiberius moved to Capri in 27 AD and made the Blue Grotto his personal swimming hole.

While it looked cool, we weren't able to get as close as we did at other stops.

The Green Grotto (Grotta Verde, to which we squeezed so close we seemed in danger of being sucked in, was more spectacular to me.

When the tide took water out, we could see a boat on the other side (the photo at the top).

The White Cave (Grotta Bianca) is an elevated cavern with stalactites that make it almost look like a shark with its mouth wide open.

In this case, the name refers to the stone rather than the water.

The water in and around Grotta Bianca is also beautiful shades of blue and turquoise.

For those of us who have been to Cabo San Lucas, I Faraglioni looks somewhat familiar.

In Italian, Faraglioni translates to the geologic term "stacks" or "sea stacks."

They're formed by wind and wave erosions.

We were able to get a sea level view of the coast that we gazed down upon from the Gardens of Augustus earlier in the day.

You can see the sideview of the zigzag road that looks so cool from above.

Marina Piccola is a natural harbor on the opposite side of the island from Marina Grande, where we boarded our tour boat.

The Skipper said this is the beach resort where the very wealthy stay on Capri.

We were fortunate to take this boat ride to see how many beautiful places there really are on Capri rather than simply arrive at the relatively gritty Marina Grande and wonder what all the glamorous hype was about.

Marina Piccola would be a good place for a 5-star beach stay.

The Punta Carena Lighthouse is located on the southwest corner of the Isle of Capri.

Such beacons for boats remain vital to safe navigation approaching land by sea.

The white and red vertical striping is a bit unique.

As mentioned previously, our final stop was the Blue Grotto, close to the northwest corner of the island.

If a boat ride around Capri intrigues you, Viator offers an excursion from Naples that takes visitors to the island by boat specifically to circle the island.  That would be a great choice, as long as you make it back to your ship before it sails.

For our Princess excursion, we were able to grab seats on the top deck in the open air on our boat ride back to Naples.  That was much better than being inside on a lower deck as we had been in the morning.

We savored our final night aboard Regal. Princess, beginning with cappuccino and treats upon returning the ship.

Without pre-purchased airport transfers, we fortunately hooked up with a nice couple for an early morning taxi to the airport.  We had decided to keep our plans simple this trip, not adding a post-cruise taste of Rome.  Anyone who has not been to Rome should not pass up the opportunity to spend time the Eternal City, and if you've  been, you know you can always have a great time on every return visit.  If our flight had been overbooked, we would have been open to being paid to delay our flight a day or two.

On the flight back to Philly, I watched movies.  Having laughed with a great Nicholas Cage comedy on our flight to Barcelona at the outset, I was happy to find another one, Adaptation, a twenty year-old flick that I intended to see long ago.  The time flew by.

Looking back over this voyage, it had turned out to be one of our best cruises ever.  I highly recommend a Mediterranean cruise to anyone who can find the time and budget to go.