To Ephesus With Love: 185 € richer

Yesterday afternoon, we caught a bus to the centre of the island, to the town of Anacapri. The bus ride took us over the high mountain road I mentioned in an earlier post. The sheer drop to the ocean far below put Jean right off any ideas of taking the chair lift up Mt Solaro to the highest point on the island.

At Anacapri, the chairlift was literally a single chair one sits in, with feet dangling below. No way for Jean. So, I took the approximately 15-minute flight myself. Up I went, and I knew Jean could not cope with this. At the top, the view was amazing. Where a bunch of sail boats, far below, huddled together, you could really appreciate the varying depths of the water that you couldn't appreciate from ground/sea level. I took several photos. The view on all sides was excellent. 600 metres up, I was told. I thought it would have been higher.

There was a restaurant at one end with a few people in it, and at the other end was a large area for enjoying the view. One level below here was the spot to take the chair lift back down the mountain. Most people stayed at the top for a few minutes and then descended again. I decided I'd had enough and headed to the chair lift. Looking at the ground in front of me, I said to myself 'what's that?'. A small pile of money was just sitting there on the path. One of the notes had the figure 100 on it. I couldn't believe it! No one was around, and I knew immediately there was no way to establish the owner of the money. They were probably half way down the mountain or further away by now. If I'd handed the money in, it would've ended up in someone else's pocket. If I'd left the money there, it would have blown away. So it went into MY pocket.

I caught the chair lift again, and descended. When I met Jean again, we counted the money. I'd found 185 euros! About $275 Australian. I thought about the poor person who'd lost the money, and hoped it would be a wealthy American. No one elderly climbed the mountain.

We wandered the streets of Anacapri. It's a very nice town. Capri is rather touristy, but Anacapri seems to be just islanders, the Caprians. Many were out for a walk in the late evening, which seems to be an Italian practice.

We had had an otherwise very expensive day. 30 euros each for the boat trip yesterday morning, and two fairly expensive meals, the chair lift ride (10 €), plus a few other things all came to 225 €. But with the 185 € I found, we spent only 40 €, and are well under budget.

All seems to be well with our Italian hosts. They've stopped fighting. We've had a good look, and no one seems to have a black eye. From some hotel review from early July on the Internet, apparently this family fights regularly, and the guests know all about it.

The view in the bus of Capri, on way to Anacapri