Capri: Day Six

7:25 a.m.
Friday the 13th. Quite the unlucky day to venture out onto the ocean, but as I look outside onto calm seas, it appears that that’s where I’ll be heading today.

Later On

Today was the day I decided to do it. I decided to shave my beard into the Alan Ceen mutton chops. I wasn’t going to do it, but my classmates convinced me otherwise. As I walked down the stairs with my newly shaven face it felt like I was some sort of celebrity. Caryn was taking a video, and flashes all started going off at once. It was an odd feeling. Sure I like attention, but I’d never had this much all at once.

Alan was standing at the bottom of the steps with Romolo. He was clearly waiting impatiently because I was late for the walk. It took him a second to realize I’d shaven to match his look. I think the facebook video sums it up perfectly, and it makes me smile every time I watch it. After the celebrity wore off we all headed out for our boat ride around Capri.

It was a wonderful experience, and I wish we had time to rent kayaks and explore all the little grottos. Our boat was too big to maneuver inside any of them, so we just saw things from the outside. First we boated past Jovis, then the White and Green grottos. Our boat when through a cave in the Faraglioni and then past the Anacapri lighthouse. The sun beat on us as we skirted through the crystal clear waters. Some people sunned themselves on the front, while other frantically took pictures. I did a balance of both before we arrived to our final stop at the Blue Grotto.

If you don’t know, the Blue Grotto is famous for its crystal clear and vibrant blue waters. It was an expensive endeavor (13 for the boatride, and 10 to go in the grotto), but well worth it. We got off our larger boat four at a time and into rowboats piloted by little Italian men. As Susie, Phil, Ernest, and I neared the entrance to the grotto, our little man pulled on a chain. The chain guided us where oars could not, into the mouth of the grotto. The entrance is barely large enough for the rowboat to fit though. We all had to duck down, and if he timed it wrong (during a swell) we would have been smashed on the rocks. Of course, he’s an expert at this, though right was we were going through he yelled ‘Oh my God!’ purely for dramatic effect.

Inside the grotto was as beautiful as I thought, and pictures probably couldn’t capture it. It was very dark, but the light that did get through made the water the most vibrant blue. Our little man buzzed through the Roman history before breaking into romantic and haunting song that echoes around the cave. I later found out that Alice had jumped in and swam about the grotto for a bit.

We arrived safely back on the larger boat, which took us back to marina grande. The rest of the day went very similarly to routine. This time however, I decided to have a little fun. I shaved my facial hair off in stages, three total. The first was Alan Ceen, the second were biker-chops, and the third was a mustache. Romolo commented that every time he saw me I had different hair, and that my mustache rendition looked like an Italian barber.

Alan and I bonded over our beards earlier, and I heard him bragging to the boat driver about my attempt to copy him. He told me he shaved his beard in the middle so no soup would get stuck there. He also said I was the only person to ever do this, besides another student who attempted to glue cotton balls to his face. Apparently that ended disastrously.

At the pub I particularly enjoyed myself, and Susie tried a new beer called Adel Scott that I said tasted like the Wild West. I enjoyed my Lowerbrau per usual before heading back to work. We bid adieu to the Italian professor, who had to leave for business in the morning. He complimented me on my facial hair, and on my designs, which he said were very mies van der rohe.

As I sat there working in the lobby I overheard the clerk making fun of my mustache in Italian. I swore I heard buffo Americano (stupid American mustache). We worked until three in the morning, and upon finishing my part of the presentation I bid my hard working Italian colleagues goodnight.