Summer Days

The last few weeks have been pretty laid back, just hanging about at home and spending some days by the sea. It is the busiest time of the year in Ischia and the holiday makers have arrived on mass. Traffic has increased and the various tourist towns are swelling with pedestrians, I’m finding it increasingly difficult to take Milly out for her daily walks trying to manouevre around the crowds doing their passeggiata. Hopefully next week some normality will return.

Our friends Salvatore and Adriana have come over from Napoli for the weekend to spend some time with us and I had to do the very Italian thing of hiring a brolly and sunbed on the main beach of Casamicciola (not a nice beach at all and the dirtiest water with being near the port) but they insisted on going to the nearest beach. It is definitely not my idea of a relaxing day, it resembled a meat market, with kids crying, parents screaming at them, sand flying…but the Italians seem to thrive on it!

The Beach- Casamicciola

Usually I head to the rocks near Lacco Ameno when I am by myself, no crowds and transparent water for swimming.

Liana

The Rocks

On one particular day I spotted this guy heading out to sea on his blow up lilo….I am sure there are some do’s and dont’s when using these floating devises!! ‘One should be aware of the danger in floating too far especially when you end up in the pathway the boats take for coming in and out of the port!’

Spot The Wally!!

After taking the photo I put my camera away and looked up to try and locate him, but he was no where to be seen, perhaps a passing boat had picked him up!

Isola D'Ischia

We arrived on Ischia Tuesday evening just as the sun was setting, it was an awesome site and I took loads of photos only to find that I must have somehow deleted the folder as the photos were no where to be found on the memory card. Just my luck!

Domenico found a studio/ apartment on the internet in the town of Casamicciola, which will be our home until the end of August.Then we will look for something more permanent to rent once the holiday season has finished.

The last few days have been spent exploring the Island which is extremely picturesque. Apart from the areas near the coast most of the homes are built on the hillside terraces.

An area I particularly love is Sant' Angelo on the Southern coast of Ischia, the small town cascades down the hillside to the marinas below.

Sant' Angelo

We parked the car in the first car park as no cars are allowed in the town and made our way along the narrow streets to the marina then up through the town towards the long stretch of Maronti Beach on the other side of the peninsula. Luckily there was a large area of beach ‘libero’ at the far end so we made our way there hoping that there wouldn’t be too many people so we could swim with Milly.

Spiaggia dei Maronti

End of the afternoon- Domenico & Milly walking back through Sant'Angelo

The evening was spent back at Ischia port at Il Gabbiano restaurant for a beer and pizza. Domenico’s brother Bruno worked here for 10 years as a pizzaiola before moving to New Zealand with his family.We have eaten at a few places along the port but find that everyone is doing pretty much the same menu- same pasta, pizza, seafood and are really catering to the mass of tourists. So I am determined to find those places that are a bit 'more special'

Il Gabbiano at Porto D'Ischia

Changes Are Good

It was one of those spontaneous moments that I have come to love, that saw us driving up to Napoli and jumping on the ferry to Ischia.

Although Domenico had visited before, it was the first time for me and I’m just annoyed that I left my camera behind to snap the beautiful images of the Island.

We took Milly with us and she was a gem coping with the ferry ride ( I captured this shot with my phone) and the several bus trips.

It is obligatory to keep a dog muzzled especially a German Shepherd on public transport, and they were very strict about checking. Luckily I had her Halti collar on which is able to be tightened to keep her mouth closed if the need be, and they seemed to be happy about that!

I was actually amazed at how many people would come up to me and ask ‘posso caresare il cane’… can I stroke the dog…. Which was really nice as Milly is a real softy and just loves the attention from people.

After a couple of days on the island and making several new friends we have decided to move there for a while and our plans to move to England are now on hold.

I had my doubts about moving to England after our last visit…usually when we decide to move to another country everything comes together pretty quickly, but after 6 months of trips back and forth looking for a business things weren’t coming together and I began to think that perhaps it was not ‘ meant to be’. And each time the novelty of being there quickly wore off and I missed Italy more and more.

So we have decided to move to Ischia for a while and take it from there, at least we can still enjoy the Mediterranean climate and the Neapolitan food which I love so much and Domenico can speak Neapolitan to his hearts content!