Bobbe's trip to Naples

Bobbe continues telling us about her trip around the Mediterranean:

After I finished seeing the sights in Rome, I moved on to another Italian city: Naples. Naples is the third largest city in Italy, after Rome and Milan. Historically, it has been the most important city in southern Italy. It would be great if you could get out a map of Italy and try to find Naples. Do you see how Italy is shaped kind of like a long boot with a toe and a heel? If you look at it this way, Naples is down not quite as far as the ankle.

Naples is a big city that has had an important port for trading all around the Mediterranean for hundreds of years. Much of the city's economy relies on trade and shipping. One of the cool things about downtown Naples is that the big modern port sits right next to a very old castle, which once guarded the harbor.

I pose in front of the Naples port.

I actually did not spend very much time at all in the city of Naples itself. Instead, I got on a boat and went off to visit the nearby island of Capri, which is a beautiful little island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. The two towns on Capri, which do not have imaginative names, are called Capri and Anacapri.

Here I am in the Marina Grande harbor on Capri.

Here's a picture of me on a street in Anacapri.

I pose in front of Anacapri's Roman Catholic Church.

Here I am on the beach on Capri.

From Anacapri, I got in a little boat to go around to the other side of Capri, where there is a very famous little cave called the Blue Grotto. The Blue Grotto can only be entered by boat through a small entrance, so you can only go inside when the waves are not too choppy. Everybody has to get into little rowboats and duck down. The rower guides the boat toward the entrance, then at the last minute he ducks down too and the boat slips through into the grotto. Once you are inside, you can see how perfectly blue the water is. Since the only light comes through the cave opening, the color is very bright.

I'm on the boat headed toward the Blue Grotto with some other tourists.

Here I am in front of the entrance to the Blue Grotto. Can you see how tiny the opening is?

Everybody had to transfer from the big boats to little rowboats in order to go into the grotto.

I'm onboard the little rowboat.

Here I am inside the grotto.

Isn't the pristine blue water beautiful?