Isle of Ischia

So while almost every person that we know is battling a hurricane this weekend (condo please don't flood, please don't flood) we decided to take a day trip to the Isle of Ischia today. For those of you who don't know, Ischia is basically Capri's lesser known sister island. It sits in the Tyrrhenian Sea and is about an hour ferry ride from Naples. Many Europeans flock here for its thermal spas, hot springs, and volcanic mud, while also enjoying the beaches and little shops and restaurants in the small towns.

View from Procida

Our day started with our first Italian ferry experience. To get on the ferries there is what one may call "organized chaos". Basically, everybody just gets on... with toes being rolled over by large suitcases in the process. And everybody also includes people on scooters, cars, and pedestrians... at the same time, through the same ramp. Complete craziness, but I guess there is a smoothness to all of the mayhem since nobody gets killed or seriously injured in the process. This is also true for getting off of the ferries.

A string of cars waiting to get on.

We had some pretty good views from atop the ferry. 

Pulling into the Ischia port

Pozzuoli

A lighthouse

We didn't go into the day with a set plan. We didn't know where we wanted to go on the island, but being that it was in the high 90s with clear skies and no wind we wore our suits and brought some towels in case we wanted to check out one of the beaches.  We walked around for a bit, looking at the cute shops along the cobblestone roads. A woman was pushing a huge cart of lemons in front of us. When a couple of them fell Jon helped her out and picked them up. She was very thankful and asked us if we wanted to try two kinds of liquors from her store. Of course we'll try your liquor!!! Who does she think she's talking to? :) We also tried one of her cookies and some sweet thing we can't remember. A great start on the island.

Big cart of lemons!

We basically walked around a whole bunch more on the island. We didn't make it to the beaches since we just couldn't stand being outside any longer than we already were. The heat was beating down on us and was pretty unbearable. We did take a breather and had lunch at a pizzeria where we ordered prosciutto e melone (melon, which was the best melon I've ever tasted... seriously) and pizza margharita (what else?). We ended the day with a quick bus ride to the port and some granita (like Italian ice) to cool us off some more. A ferry ride back and we were done!