Picturesque Ponza
Looking so pretty as we sailed into the harbour in the late afternoon sun, the family have a very special connection to this island. Clarissa’s family own a delightful little house in Ponza and she spent all her childhood summer holidays here, and now Stella and Chloe are following Mum’s footsteps and enjoying theirs here now too.
Geoff took the girls in the dinghy into the port so they could meet up with their grandparents at the family house and then came back to “Theresa” where I was dressed for the evening and we could enjoy a cocktail whilst watching all the activities around the harbour. Then we went into back into the port and met up with them all before heading off to Acqua Pazza for a delicious dinner, a restaurant that held many happy memories for us back in 2007. What a lovely evening we all had together.
Wednesday 28 June – back into the harbour this morning to meet up for breakfast with Patty and to pick up a few more provisions before we left for a day on the water. We sailed around Ponza to a couple of different bays – the ragged coastline is quite spectacular, with cliffs and caves and a lot of houses scarily perched on the top of them and the girls’ enjoyed swimming in the crystal clear waters. Another lovely lunch and then we headed back to the marina. The wind had come up a bit and Stella and Chloe were quite keen to get back onto terra firma and decided to spend the night at Patty’s instead of on the boat! So once Geoff took them back into the marina in the dinghy he came back for me and we motored over to the little bay opposite the harbour where we had a simple dinner in a little restaurant right on the beach.
Thursday 29 June – the girls’ decision to sleep on land last night turned out to be a good one! It was calm when we woke at 7.00am but as I am writing this blog, Geoff and I are rocking all over the place. The wind has come up and there is no way Stella and Chloe would be able to get into the dinghy to come back onto the boat. Most of the pleasure boats anchored here have disappeared around the bay to the other side of the island where it’s a little calmer, but we are sitting it out and hoping it will calm down so we can go back to pick the girls up and have some fun this afternoon (Clarissa has also told me she has bought some lovely treats in the Pasticceria so we need to get in and pick those up!!!!).
Great news, at 1.00pm the seas calmed and we picked up the girls, Clarissa and Patty and headed out to the island of Palmerola, the second largest of the Pontine Islands, and except for a couple of restaurants, and the family home of Fendi (the Roman fashion designer), it is uninhabited. The composition of the multi coloured rocks, cliffs and caves is remarkable and very pretty and it was great sailing into Cala del Porto (and nosing at Fendi’s “bach”!) and also Punta de Tramontana, known as Cathedral Cove – you can easily see why when you look at the spectacular cliff face. Swims all around and then we headed back to Ponza as we were keen to sail around the whole of the island before we head back to Procida tomorrow.
A lovely lazy afternoon was spent sailing around Lucia Rosa Bay, Cala di Feola and Cala dei Acqua, some of Clarissa and Patty’s favourite coves in Ponza, accompanied by an Aperol Spritz for Geoff and Prosecco for the ladies and the delicious cakes Clarissa had bought this morning, and why not! Plenty of other boats around here too. It’s a public holiday in Rome today – St Peter and St Paul’s Day - so most people have taken Friday as a holiday to make a long weekend and get away to the islands. It was certainly busy as we came into the bay to anchor for the night and after dropping off the ladies with all their gear (yes, it was their last time on the yacht).
Geoff came back and picked me up to go back into Ponza for our final evening here. We took Stella and Chloe to their favourite restaurant, Il Timone, run by a family friend and where they had both learned to make pizzas a few years back (see photos below), and sat outside and enjoyed a lovely dinner and conversation together, before the girls escorted us back to the dinghy and we said goodnight. We’ll next see them back in Rome on Monday.
Friday 30 June – it’s arrivederci Ponza this morning. After a very early coffee and pastry in the port, Geoff and I muscled up and got the outboard off the dinghy and clipped back onto the rail and then got the dinghy out of the water and up and over the side so Geoff could tie it down to the deck. And then we were off.
Ponza – I loved you as much as I did on my first visit – a very special place for the Roberts family with very many happy memories.