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The notion I’d had that we would glide peacefully into a huge blue cave was shattered.  The whole undertaking is a sort of orderly chaos. If the weather is good the boats are out - a couple of dozen of them bob around in the heavy waves that slap up against the side of the cliff - all seeming to want to get into the grotto at the same time.  After a few minutes I realised there was some sort  of  system, governed by shouts and gestures and the ebb and flow of the waves.  When water gushes out of the cave the Olivers get ready - when it flows back in they grab a chain fixed to the wall at the entrance and with a mighty tug and a rapid leaning back as low into the boat as possible, you’re in! And if you are lucky, you escape without a scrape, unlike Oliver’s knees!

There are almost as many boats inside the Grotto as outside and after spending some time admiring the brilliant blue of the water and the reflections on the roof of the cave it’s time to brave the waves again. As we edged our way to the entrance the boatmen burst into a resounding chorus of “Come Back to Sorrento”.  Corny, but fun.

If you come to Capri on a half-day trip from resorts on the Amalfi Coast you will almost certainly experience the above, and that’s about all, apart from milling with all the other day trippers in the Piazza Umberto or the Marina Grande where the ferry from Naples comes in.  Here are the groups with flag-waving tour guides and souvenir shops selling lemon liquor and flower perfumes.

Stay  a while and you will see the other side of Capri - a paradise of sweet-smelling bay trees, lemon trees , olive groves, hundreds of species of wild flowers - a lush, green, perfumed land.  Two Roman Emperors, Augustus and Tiberius, chose to live on Capri and the ruins of their fabulous villas and baths are reminders of their lavish lifestyle.

In more recent times  the island was a magnet for the glitterati:  Maria Callas, Aristotle Onassis, Greta Garbo, Noel Coward and several members of the Kennedy clan spent their holidays here, returning year after year.  Grahame Greene lived here and so did “Our Gracie”.  Gracie Fields fell in love with Capri the first time she set eyes on it.  In her memoirs she wrote: “ I knew that if only one small blade of grass of this gentle, wonderful place could belong to me, I would be happy.”  She was happy enough to stay for forty-six years. 

The things that attracted these people to Capri are, in the main, still here and the best way to see them is to walk.  The two main towns, Capri and Anacapri, are almost completely pedestrianised.  There are buses that run between them and there are also strange looking “Capri taxis” - jazzy  open-top vehicles - which will take you on the same journey.  Little electric carts called carrelli, are used for distributing goods (but not people) around the island.

There’s a great little book for sale at almost any newsagent’s stall: “Capri and Anacapri in 12 Walks”.  It is in English and costs around £2.50.  Buy this. It’s a gem and will lead you around parts of the island that you would never otherwise find.

Anacapri is on the western side of the island, Capri on the eastern side, and there are lovely walks in and around both places.  We started on the Capri side with a walk to Villa Jovis, built two thousand years ago by the Emperor Tiberius.  From here he ruled the Roman Empire and it seems he did a lot of other things not quite so exalted -  like holding erotic orgies which took place in the Blue Grotto, after which the young men and women involved were slaughtered.  He seemed rather keen on knocking people off.  Close to the villa is the Salto di Tiberio, a precipice from which were pushed people no longer in the Emperor’s favour.

The walk up to the villa cuts through lemon groves, vineyards and gardens crammed with red poppies growing at the feet of heavily laden apricot trees. Villa Jovis is amazing.  I could only wonder at what it must have been like when Tiberius was here.  Reconstructions show it as an immense three-storey palace, full of porticos, walkways, columns, baths and even central heating and an observatory for the Emperor’s private astrologer.

Wander along the paths around the villa.  They are lined with masses of wild flowers - a profusion of greenery and perfume.  The paths are soft and mossy, sprinkled with pine cones.  So easy to imagine a tall figure in a toga strolling along here.

Another day, another walk took us to the Natural Arch - like the Blue Grotto, a work of nature, formed  by the wind and rains over thousands of years. A narrow path and a flight of stairs lead down to a viewpoint from which the curve of the arch can be seen rising out of the water to a height of about two hundred meters.

Close by, down at sea level, is the Matermania Grotto which in ancient times was a sacred site, possibly a place of worship for the goddess Cybel who was celebrated in orgiastic rites and purification ceremonies including bathing in the blood of a sacrificed bull.  Seems a lot of this stuff went on in ancient Capri - real as well as mythical.  The Romans coated the huge cave with marble and mosaics and fitted it out with couches for those present to relax on.   (I wonder just what was going on while they were relaxing? )

We found a present day ‘Roman’ sitting on a rock inside the grotto.  Short, thick dark hair, deeply tanned skin.  “English?” he asked.  Turned out he was from Lancashire.  He said his Grannie knew Gracie Fields and had asked him to visit Gracie’s grave and take a picture.

We decided to do the same thing  (my Grannie also loved the lass from Lancashire).  Gracie is buried in the island’s tiny non-Catholic cemetary, surrounded by tall palm trees.  A small plaque on her headstone says simply “Our Gracie”.  Her third husband Boris Alperovici, the love of her life who she met in Capri, is buried with her.  Someone told us Boris’s surname, when rearranged, spells ‘I love Capri’.  It does too.  The grave is well tended - lots of fresh flowers -  people still remember Gracie.  She died in 1979 and we met a number of people who knew her, many having fond anecdotes to relate.

We didn’t meet anyone who knew Axel Munthe, the Swedish doctor and author of ‘The Story of San Michele’.  He died in 1949 and probably was not as popular a figure with ordinary folk as Gracie, being something of an aesthete and an intellectual.  The subject of his book, the Villa San Michele which Munthe began to build in 1896, is in Anacapri and is just a short walk from the main square.   It is a house of great beauty and tranquility, built over  a Roman villa, whose remains are preserved in the garden.  Munthe wanted a house ‘halfway between sky and sea’ and he succeeded.  He built his house on the highest point on the island.  On one of its terraces an Egyptian sphinx, whose face cannot be seen,  looks out across Capri and the Bay of Naples.

The landscape on the Anacapri side of the island is wilder and more open than the Capri side.  A narrow mossy path leads from the Belvedere de Migliera  (a viewpoint) down to the Carena Lighthouse. Shaded by myrtle and pine trees the path is lined with thick bush filled with all kinds of trees and plants: juniper, azalea, broom, pine - all filling the air with their scent.  Green-backed lizards scamper across the path, seagulls wheel around the cliffs and butterflies are everywhere.  It’s an enchanted landscape.

Another day we walked around Old Capri.  The Arab presence is still here, with narrow covered streets like those in a North African souk.  Forget about wondering where you are.  The only way is to lose yourself in the alleyways and passages. 

In complete contrast there are streets in Capri which are utterly devoted to mammon and the 20th century.  In particular, via Camarelle, just off Piazza Umberto, is lined with Gucci, Pucci and every other ucci you can think of.  Something for everyone.

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