Our return to Procida and goodbye to the Gulf of Naples
Friday 30 June – we had a lovely sail back to Procida today, the water was blue and calm and we enjoyed sailing back past Ventotene, all around the islands of both Ischia and Procida, stopping enroute for Geoff to have a swim whilst holding onto a rope – last thing I wanted was for the boat to drift too far without him on it!!!
We arrived into the port at 5.30pm and duly refuelled and were the last boat into the Sailitalia dock. The inspection was carried out whilst we enjoyed a drink on the deck, although it was very noisy with all the boats in and so close to each other. We had a dinner of bits and pieces from our fridge whilst all sorts of action was happening on the quayside, including a two hour concert which started at 9.30pm with some very out-of-tune singers. Finally, it quietened down a little and we headed off for our last night on Theresa, only to be woken at 2.30am by a huge thunderstorm – hatches closed, we lay in bed as the lightning flashed around us for quite some time.
Saturday 1 July – up and dressed, bags packed, fridge contents bagged, rubbish out – we were off to the quayside for a morning coffee and pastry before finding the accommodation that Patty had kindly organised for us.
What a great job she did – the place is nothing short of amazing. Il Borghetto (the little hamlet) is fabulous, talk about a private oasis in the middle of a very busy little town. It’s located just back from the very, very busy port, with a wonderful entrance off the street and the most incredible garden in the back. We are in apartment No 5 and have a little kitchen and overlook the garden which is full of orange, lemon and fig trees and a vegetable garden full of courgettes with their delightful edible flowers, aubergines and herbs – all of which we have been invited to use if we wish!
We left our bags in storage and headed out to Terra Murata, it’s the church and abbey perched on top of the Punta dei Monaci, the cliff we have sailed past twice on the boat. Gosh it was so hot walking up all those cobbled hills and steps to get to the top, but we made it and were rewarded with a breathtaking panoramic view of Corricella Bay and beyond, to Chiaia Bay and the island of Capri and all of the Gulf of Naples. Terra Murata is the historical and cultural centre of the island, it is a special place of medieval fortifications and also has two cannons dating back to the Neapolitan Republic of 1799. At the top was the imposing fortress of Palazzo d’Avalos, the Abbey of San Michele and the ancient church of Santa Margherita Nuova.
The Palazzo d’Avalos was built at the end of the 16th Century by the Avalos family who were the governors of the island. In 1830 the building was transformed into a prison and was only closed in 1988. The Abbey of San Michele Arcangelo is a Benedictine foundation dating back to the 11th Century, destroyed and rebuilt over centuries, the current architecture dates back to 1500. It is one of the most prestigious and richest churches in southern Italy. There are many beautiful altars inside and a nativity scene made from wood and terracotta by pastors of the 18th Century. It was also interesting to see the wall of photographs of all the Popes.
Back into town and to our little hamlet to collect our swimsuits – we had been told that there are a few lovely beaches on the island so we walked back to the port and got on the bus to Lidi della Chiaiolella which was one of them. Sadly we were disappointed, I guess we are royally spoilt in NZ to have so many, almost empty, gloriously white sandy beaches and this certainly was not like any of them. It was all volcanic black gravelly sand, and a narrow beach with wall to wall sunbeds and bathers lying together like sardines! Certainly wasn’t for us, so we had a drink and headed back into the port for home. A lovely cocktail out in our garden, which has become a welcome respite for us, from both the heat and the crowds and the noise of motorbikes, followed by another wander into town for dinner which wasn’t as easy as it sounded as pretty much everywhere was reserved, so we had a drink with a few tapas and headed home instead.
Sunday 2 July – up early this morning as Geoff has booked himself on a seat on a small fishing boat to go out into the harbour and watch them retrieve their overnight catch. I walked down with him and we had a coffee before he left and I headed back to enjoy the delightful breakfast Il Borghetto serves, in the garden with home-made cakes and lemon marmalade and bread, we are on a winner at this place I can tell you. They also kindly gave me a tray for Geoff to have on his return at 10.00am. I went back down to meet him and it was an interesting observation that both times I was there this morning, Sunday morning Mass at Santuario Mariano church at the top of the hill had just finished and the congregation were pouring out – all people our age, no young ones at all.
Geoff enjoyed his fishy morning and came back with a fish for his breakfast which he duly cooked up in our apartment as we still had some salads and oils with us left over from the boat, and he added some nice fresh basil from the garden too. (yes friends, non-fisher-lover me wasn’t quite as excited as he was at the aroma that hung around in there for the rest of our stay!!!!). A glass of wine and he sat in the garden as happy as Larry enjoying the fruits of his labours!
A walk around the little shops and then we decided to try out the other lovely beach we had been told about – Spiaggia del Postino, so it was back on a different bus this time – and definitely not for the faint-hearted, the driver was going along the very cobbled, bumpy, streets at a fair lick and the concrete walls and houses on either side were so close you had the feeling of wanting to duck inwards all the time, how he missed them – and anything else along the street – is a mystery. Woe betide anyone coming out of their house without paying attention that’s for sure. A few photos that I took, whilst bouncing around in my seat, for you below!). We got off the bus at the wrong stop and ended up walking back to the beach, looking forward to a nice cool swim, only to be thwarted once again, another black gravel sand one, full of people and even narrower than the first one, so no go. Back to the garden for a cooling drink instead.
We had reserved ourselves a lovely table at Caracale restaurant, on the quayside at Marina Corricella - the pretty bay, for our final night here and what a lovely night it was. Still sunny when we sat down, we watched the sun go down with the backdrop of the Med and all the fishing boats and then the moon come up over Terra Murata – a fitting end to our lovely weekend here, and our week’s sail around the Gulf of Naples.
Monday 3 July – I’m sitting in the garden typing this as we wait to go down to the port to catch our boat back to Naples and then the train to Rome. What a pefect week we have had, family, sailing, sunshine, eating and drinking in these beautiful colourful Italian Islands. Geoff heads back to New Zealand tomorrow and I have 4 nights, 3 days left with my gorgeous granddaughters before I follow suit on Friday.
