Blue Grotto

So finally you round a bend and see a sort of cove and 20-30 dozen boats there and you know you have arrived at the One True Blue Grotto. In our boat, the cap'n asked who wanted to go and who didn't--incredibly, about half did not. They were transferred to another boat and sent back to the Grand Marina. In shame, I presume. We, the faithful, remained. And remained. The way this works is, in order to get into the Grotto, you have to be transferred to a little rowboat, 4 passengers, one mariner, who takes you to the ticket office and then tells you watch your head and then sings "O Solo Mio," or maybe "When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie...", badly [see video], and then demands a tip, ideally as you are midway between his little boat and the big motor-boat. Anyway, we continued remaining. And waiting. And waiting. Wondering why our boat was sort of standing off, aloof...although if there was a queue of any conceivable Mediterranean sort, we could not discern it. Other boats arrived. Their parties got in the little rowboats and went into the Grotto. We observed this and apprised our captain. He then was on his cellphone, talking, gesturing wildly, in the Italian manner. Crew members of the little rowboats were on their cell phones, also gesturing wildly, sometimes apparently approaching violence toward each other. Or perhaps it was all just part of the act. Anyhow, after 45 minutes or an hour of this, two of the wildly gesturing ones approached, gingerly off-loaded us, and we were on our way. Someone in this operation should visit Disney. The mercifully short video is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCmMUgDmG7k.

We were on a boat pretty much like this

And now we are in the little row boat, headed for

The ticket office; 8.50 euro admission fee plus 4 euro "tax"

And here is the entrance...you have to lay down flat in the
boat while the guide/mariner does the same while pulling
you through via a chain; the entrance, in calm seas and low
tide, is about a meter high, maybe two wide

And then, voila and shazzam, you are there, in the Blue
Grotto

Thus

And thus

And thus

And you are so busy doing stills and adjusting the camera
and then trying to provide video-documentation of the whole
incredible thing, while not being overcome by the silliness of
the situation, the singing (wait for the video), that you forgot
to notice any of it at all...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCmMUgDmG7k

And then, no sooner than you can say, "Avast!" you are out
again, boarding your open motor-craft, and headed back to
the Grand Marina: fulfilled: another once-in-a-lifetime experience
experienced