On the boat to Ischia

No churches and no museums today. We took about an hour ferry ride to the island of Ischia, Capri’s poor relation. But it figures prominently in Elena Ferrante’s books, so I wanted to visit. Anyway, we are probably more Ischia types than Capri types. We spent the day walking — on the sand, on a promenade, through the main town. We went a couple of kms to a huge “castle on a rock.” Called the Castelo Aragonés, it has a history going back to 500 BC, but the current buildings are from the 16th -17th century. Nothing much to walk through, but it is a pretty impressive complex from outside.

One thing I was not prepared for was the mobs of young people out in their finest, drinking and smoking in the street next to the bars. We had to push our way through crowds of kids as we went down the row of restaurants along the port looking for something without blaring music. We finally found one — the restaurant at the very tip was relatively quiet and had space for us. But then we had to push our way back through to get to the dock for our boat home. Everyone was very jolly and celebratory, but I was surprised because I thought Christmas was more of a close family celebration in Italy.

Home by 7, and happy to see that we had apparently missed a serious rainfall because of all the puddles. There are apparently a few restaurants open along the main drag a few minutes away, so we will cross our fingers and head out.

Merry Christmas to everyone, it has been great to Facetime with grandkids and hope to do more of that tomorrow!Read more