Ischia week one

I'm off to Ischia, Italy. 

Ischia  is a  volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It lies at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples about 19 miles from the city of Naples.  It is the largest of the Phlegrean Islands. Roughly trapezoidal, it measures approximately 6 miles east to west and 4 miles north to south and has about 21 miles of coastline and a surface area of 17.9 sq mi. It is almost entirely mountainous, the highest peak being Mount Epomeo 2,585 feet. The island has a population of over 60,000 people.  The main industry is tourism, centering on thermal spas that cater mostly to European especially German and Asian tourists eager to enjoy the fruits of the island's natural volcanic activity, its hot springs, and its volcanic mud.

I booked the trip several months ago so as the time got closer, I thought I better figure out how to get there.  Hmmm not as easy as I thought.  One reason I moved to Malta was to be able to travel in Europe.  Unfortunately, it's a bit more costly than anticipated.  Airfare was expensive (about $500 to Naples on short notice) as was the ferry to Italy, (about $60 each way).  After it was all said and done, I should have just flown, but I'm jumping ahead. 

OK, I bought the ferry ticket from Malta to Pozzallo Sicily, the only port available.   From Pozzallo I had to go by train to Siracusa to catch a sleeper train to Naples, 9 hours away.  From Naples to Ischia was another ferry.  I made all the reservations and got the confirmations, but the one for the train from Pozzallo to Siracusa said there is no way to validate the ticket, you have to go to a bigger station. OK, well, the only way to do that is by train. It specifically said you can not buy a ticket from the conductor, nor can the conductor validate your ticket.   There is a hefty fine if you get caught with no ticket.  It might be a very short trip! 

I took a cab from my apartment to the ferry rather then two buses - $30.  From the port in Pozzallo to the train station another cab, $18.  It's now dark at 7 PM.  The train comes at 8:20.  The cab driver said if the train doesn't stop, call me and I'll come back for you.  I asked if that was common and he said sometimes.  OK then. He assured me the area was safe, but I had my doubts.  It was a tiny station with graffiti everywhere and very isolated.  There was a small market on the corner, but too far to hear me scream.  Eventually the train came and no one had bothered me, so all that remained was to see if I could actually get on the train.  The door was opened by a totally disinterested conductor who wandered off as soon as I got on.  She never asked for a ticket at all.  $7 ticket wasted.  A short time later we arrived in Siracusa.  I had about a 45 min wait and there were only 4 tracks, and 2 other trains but no sign for the schedule.  One was a sleeper train so I made my way over and approached a man who looked like he worked there.  He spoke no English and I speak no Italian, but he clearly said no train to Naples until tomorrow.  No matter how many times I showed him my ticket, he was adamant that there was no train leaving tonight.  Another man standing nearby came to help out.  He too said no train till tomorrow.  He showed me the ticket window was closed.    Eventually he sent me to an actual employee who took my ticket and led me to my sleeper compartment.  I have no idea who these other men were or why they were just standing around but I was safely on the right train.  So far, so good.  Ticket from Siracusa to Naples $120.

The compartment was tiny, but pretty comfortable.  I got a single compartment for $20 more and it was worth it.  My bed was the bottom bunk with the other 3 bunks folded up.  I had plenty of overhead storage and a tiny sink.  We pulled out of the station around 9:45.  While I got zero sleep with the train starting and stopping all night, it was a very comfortable way to travel.  We arrived in the main Naples terminal at 7:30 Sat morning.  I found a cab to take me to the next ferry, $20.  Ferry to Ischia $20.  The ferry made two stops, one in Ischia and one in Forio.   I hadn't had internet since I left Malta, so I couldn't pull up a map to see where Forio was.  I figured it was another island so I got off on what I thought was the island of Ischia.  What I have since learned, Ischia is also a city on the island and Forio is another city on the other side of the same island.  It would have been nice if the ferry web site showed that.  Cab fare from Ischia to my hotel (near Forio) $60.  What is should have cost because the fares are fixed - $42.

Well, I finally made it here and the condo is very nice.  I have a king size bed, although its very, very low to the ground.  There is a fully furnished kitchen and living room with a nice balcony both in front and back.  There is an awesome jacuzzi pool which is fully enclosed, just a bit smaller then your typical small roadside motel pool.  The water is hot (not as hot as a hot tub) and the room is full of steam.  There is a screened in portion and the windows are all cracked open, so you get cold air from the outside.  Its much colder here then Malta, with night time temps in the 40's and 50's. 

My first night in the condo I couldn't get the heat to work properly.  I had radiators but they were all on a thermostat.  I could only get it up to about 62 and the office was closed.   No problem, I knew where it was really warm, so I spent about 2 hours floating in the jacuzzi pool.  The water was slightly salty and I was surprisingly buoyant.  I finally had to get out when I could no longer feel my shriveled up fingers. 

The next morning I decided to walk around and see what I could see.  The condo had WIFI so I was able to download some maps, which is how I discovered where I was.  Ischia is very hilly and I was pretty high up, so almost everything is downhill.  For those of you without bad knees, its much harder going down then up.  The steeper, the harder and some of the hills are very steep.  On the way I met a British woman waiting on a bus and she explained how they work.  CD  goes down and CS goes up.  Good to know!  I made my way down to Forio, but it was Sunday and almost everything was closed.  I had just about decided to head home when it started raining.  The only thing opened was a restaurant, which was good since I was starving.  It was crowded and the service was poor but the pizza was awesome!  They seemed to be more attentive to the other diners and I had to ask for my bill several times.  The name of the restaurant was Ristorante Pizzeria La Bella in Forio.  It stopped raining, so I headed back up the hill.  I intended to take the bus back, but instead I just kept walking.  Suddenly there I was, at the corner market.   I stopped in for some groceries and headed home, dreaming of the jacuzzi to soothe my aching knees.  I was joined in the pool by an American couple named Valerie and Klee.  They were the nicest people, we probably sat there talking for over an hour.  They were going to the mainland on Tuesday to go to Pompeii and graciously invited me to go along.  Of course I took them up on the offer! 

On Monday I decided to head the other way; up the hill.  TripAdviser described a nice garden in the city of Sant (not Saint) Angelo.  It was a beautiful walk, high above the sea.  In the distance, I could see a huge rock protruding from the water.  A little research reveals that it's a resurgent dome from the volcano Mt Epomeo.  It is formed by the swelling or rising of a caldera floor due to movement in the magma chamber beneath it. Unlike a lava dome, a resurgent dome is not formed by the extrusion of highly viscous lava onto the surface, but rather by the uplift and deformation of the surface itself by magma movement underground.  A caldera is a cauldron-like volcanic feature usually formed by the collapse of land following a volcanic eruption.  I also saw some interesting cliffs as I got closer to the sea.  I think there were caves down there, but the path was very steep and a long way down.  I decided it wasn't worth the climb. 

I continued down till I reached sea level and found myself on a crowded little piece of land at the head of a strip of sand headed out to the resurgent dome.  There was a small parking lot and beyond that a narrow cobblestone sidewalk that headed straight up.  I could see a warren of houses, shops and restaurants, all closed.  My map said I had to work my way through this jumble, so up I went.  Then down, then around, the up, then up some more, then back around, down a little, around and back up.   I finally found myself on the other side, but alas, it was the wrong side.  Instead of heading north, I worked my way too far east and found myself on the strip of sand heading to the dome.  So back up, around, down, up, around I went until I finally found the correct path and started down the north side.  Ischia has these tiny 3 wheel trucks everywhere.  They are barely big enough for one grown man to fit into, yet I kept seeing them with 2 or even three people squeezed in.  Well, on the way down I met one of these little trucks, headed uphill of course.  He was barely able to fit on the 'road'.  There was no way for me to get past him, so I had to turn around and walk back up until I found an indent in the brick wall that I could squeeze into so he could get by.  Eventually I found the garden but it was closed.  Oh darn, was not exactly what I said....  I found out later that Monday was a local holiday.  Well, I was closer to sea level if I kept going and I was hoping to find something to eat.  It was now about 2 PM and I was starving and I admit, a little bit shaky.  I had expended quite a bit of energy and hadn't eaten since a bowl of cereal about 8 AM.  The only thing I found was some kind of pot belly stove belching volcanic steam.  There is a natural hot spring in the area and if the sign is to be believed, the sand on the nearby beach reaches 100° F due to this vein of steam.  This is a popular hiking area, there is a trail that goes up to Mt Epomeo.  I may come back and hike the trail, but I'll certainly take the bus up the hill next time.  There was a restaurant on the beach, but they didn't open until dinner.  I could see some buildings farther down the road, but nothing looked open.  I had no choice but to turn around and hike back to the other side. 

Luckily I didn't run into any more trucks and my route was more direct this time.  Once on the other side I found a small restaurant open.  It was a very charming little place perched atop the cliffs, with outside seating overlooking the water. They had only two choices - pasta with clams or pasta with mussels.   At this point I was so hungry I didn't even care and went with clams.  I devoured the bread  while waiting for the meal and when she brought it, it was just spaghetti noddles, butter, and clams with some green leaves sprinkled on top.  No matter, I devoured that too.  The bill was quite the shock for what I got, about $20 for a meal that couldn't have cost even $5.  The law of supply and demand in action, they were the only place open for miles.  This is a very touristy area, and its off season, so everything else was closed, although there were quite a few people wandering around.  The trip home was faster and I couldn't wait to hit the jacuzzi.  I found Valerie and Klee already there and we spent another enjoyable evening.  Klee decided he didn't want to go to Pompeii the next day, but Val and I were still game. We decided we needed to leave for the ferry in Ischia at 5 AM so we made it a short night. 

Valerie had a car, and we caught the high speed ferry in Ischia rather than the slower one that come around to Forio.  Once in Naples we caught the right tram with only a short walk in the wrong direction.  It took us to the main train station where we caught the train directly to Pompeii.  Valerie was very prepared with Rick Steve's travel guide.  She had directions on which tram and train to take as well as an audio guide to Pompeii.  This girl rocks!  All I have to do is follow along...  There is a link at the end of this blog post for pictures.  Each picture has details from the walking tour. 

We arrived in Pompeii and paid the entrance fee of about $10.  The place was vast, far bigger than I expected.  It's a complete Roman city that was buried 24 Aug 79 AD when Mt. Vesuvius erupted.  Ironically, it was the day after the festival honoring the god Vulcan, who was the god of fire including the fire of volcanoes, also god of metalworking and the forge.  There were signs that the volcano was about to erupt, but of course no one of the time understood what they meant.   The eruption lasted 2 days.  Mount Vesuvius spewed a deadly cloud of volcanic gas, stones, ash and fumes to a height of 21 miles.  It ejected molten rock and pulverized pumice at the rate of 1.5 million tons per second, ultimately releasing a hundred thousand times the thermal energy of the Hiroshima Bombings.  The towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum were obliterated and buried underneath massive pyroclastic surges and ash fall deposits.  An estimated 20,000 people died in the eruption.  Historians have learned about the eruption from the eyewitness account of Pliny the Younger, a Roman lawyer, administrator and poet. Pliny wrote hundreds of letters, many of which still survive, that are of great historical value for the time period.  It is interesting to note, the city was 600 years old when it was destroyed, so it was a very well established, thriving city.

Just outside the city you can see huge stone rings.  Pompeii was a sea port; the rings were used to tie ships to the dock.  Today it is much farther inland.  There is very little actual destruction; most of the buildings are still standing, but there are few roofs and many missing walls.  You can see how the city was laid out, with straight roads north/south and east/west.  As you walk in the city, you pass through two huge gates.  Both were open during the day, one for chariots and wagons and one for pedestrians.  At night the bigger gate was locked. The main street opens out on the forum, which is a large rectangular space with columns along both sides.  You can see Mt Vesuvius in the distance.  The forum was the political, religious, and commercial center of the city. It is also the most ruined part of the city. 

The streets were very interesting; they were basalt cobblestone and the sidewalks were elevated.  According to the guide book, every home in Pompeii had running water and you can still see the original lead pipes in some places.  The sidewalks were elevated for several reasons. One, they covered the pipes and two, they kept pedestrians off the street.  The streets were flushed with water to keep them clean, they were muddy after rain, and horse drawn carts were everywhere. You wouldn't want to get your sandals dirty, right?  As you come to intersections there are big flat stones across the road.  These serve as stepping stones for pedestrians to cross, yet are narrow enough to let chariot wheels pass around them.  You can still see the deep grooves made by the wheels over the years.  The sidewalks have marble chips imbedded in them; they were used to reflect the moonlight so people could safely walk around after dark. 

There are the remnants of homes and shops everywhere you look.  The homes had an interesting layout. As you walk in, there is a wide open area that would have been an atrium.  There is a hole in the ceiling with a shallow pool for rainwater below it.  The reason for the hole in the ceiling was because there were no windows in the front of the house.  There would have been too much dust and noise from the street.  Along the side of this atrium were tiny bedrooms.  Further in the house you almost always found an open area for the garden.  The kitchen and bathroom were together because they shared an incoming water pipe.  You could see some amazingly preserved frescoes on the walls as well as detailed tile work on the floors.

There were 6 public bath houses, each with a separate area for men and women.  There was a large courtyard for exercising and locker rooms for changing and storing your toga.  Each bathing area had 3 distinct rooms. The hot bath or caldarim, the warm bath or tepidarim and the cold plunge or fridgidarim.  In almost every building we went in we marveled at how intact and well preserved everything was.  I've been to other ruins, such as Copan in Honduras or Stonehenge in England.  In each of them, you really had to use your imagination to see what the archeologists described.  Here, there was no need to imagine anything; it was that well preserved.

We walked around the city for about 3 hours.  You could clearly tell which of the buildings were homes, apartments and shops.  They even had fast food joints.  Most people in the tiny apartments didn't cook.  Instead they went to one of the 40-50 snack bars which Rick Steves described as Julius in the Box, McCaesars and Burger Imp.  These establishments were easy to pick out, they had 3 marble slabs in a horseshoe shape with large holes in the middle which held the pots of hot or cold food. 

 There were also 30 brothels.  Remember this was a sea port, with lots of sailors coming and going.  The brothels were a simple establishment, with tiny rooms and nice soft stone beds.  They even had built in stone pillows.  There were erotic murals on the wall and trip adviser like feedback carved into the walls in each ladies room.  We finished the tour with a quick trip to the amphitheater and the gladiator cells.  There was a large practice area outside the arena and tiny stone cells along the walls.  It was said that the gladiators never left this area except in death.  Until Spartacus freed them, but that's another story.  Actually, as I walked around, it was that Starz original series that I kept picturing in my head. 

  I have to say, as amazing as Pompeii was, the experience was so much richer with the Rick Steves walking tour to tell you about everything. I don't usually get them, but this was so different than the usual boring voice you get.  He really brought the city alive.  I'm going to download the rest of his guides and see if they are as interesting. As we walked back to the train station we passed some cafe's selling fresh squeezed OJ and lemonade.  Orange trees are everywhere here, even more so than Florida.  A cup of OJ made while you wait is 1 euro or about $1.20.  I bought a large bag of 10 oranges from the local market near my condo for about the same price.  I have fresh juice every morning. 

 

Once back in Naples, we were ready for a late lunch and went in search of a pizza place that had been recommended.  We were aware of the well deserved reputation of pick pockets in the area, so we were vigilant.  I made sure my wallet was at the bottom of my backpack and that all the snaps were snapped.  When we stopped to consult the guide book, we made sure to back up the the building.  As we were halfway down the block, I heard something hit the ground.  I turned around and there was a man behind me, the pouch with my battery chargers on the ground, and the charging port that was hooked up to my phone was hanging out of my bag.  Of course the man disappeared before I had a chance to put two and two together.  He had fallen in behind me as I walked, used both hands to unsnap my backpack and reached in and grabbed what he could grab.  I think the fact that the phone was hooked up to the charger is what made him drop the bag, but he did get away with my phone.  There are not words to describe how shocked/pissed I was!  But really, when I realized that if he hadn't dropped the chargers, he could have gone back in for my wallet, I considered myself lucky.  The phone was easily replaceable and I specifically put electronics on my insurance policy, so all it would cost was my deductible.  Of course I took pictures all day at Pompeii, but Valerie took the exact same ones, so even those were replaceable.  The rest of our time in Naples I spent with the straps wrapped around my arm and clutching it to my chest.  When I leave Ischia, I'll be in Naples for a week.  I'm leaving everything in my hotel room but I'm buying the biggest rat trap I can find and wal around with it set in my backpack.  The sad thing is, the area were this happened has so many street vendors with everything imaginable.  No doubt I could even find my phone, but I was really looking forward to shopping there.

We had planned on going to the Archaeological Museum after lunch, but by the time we got over the shock and gave up on trying to find the restaurant, we just wanted to eat, get a new phone and go home.  By this time it was late afternoon and we had wondered pretty far from the train station, so we stopped to ask directions to a phone store and a good pizza place.  We were still trying to find the first one, but the guy we were talking to said he knew of a better one, owned by his friends.  He led us to a little hole in the wall, which in my experience, is the best kind of place to eat. The pizza was very good and the staff could not have been nicer.   The waiter was the cutest 'boy', all of about 18 years old.  He had this wild mop of blond hair that I'm sure he spent hours working on.  Basically, it was short on one side and long on the other.  He had put some product in the long part to make it stand out more than up.  It was not like a mohawk, more of a teased look.  Hard to describe, but he was sweet as could be.  He even gave Valerie a hug and kiss on both cheeks when we got up to leave.  He drew us a map to a phone store and sent us on our way. 

By the time I bought a new phone and we made our way back to the ferry, we seemed to have walked the same street 4 or 5 times.  At least I know how to get from the ferry to the train station now.  We were exhausted by the time we made it home, but even with the stolen phone, we decided we had had a great day!  No jacuzzi tonight, we were just too tired. 

The next day, Thursday, Valerie called to see if I wanted to go check out a castle on the other side of the island.  Of course I did!  We drove to the Aragonese Castle.  It was an imposing structure on its own tiny island, high above the city.  It was built in 474 BC by the Greeks who came to help the Cumeans in the war against the Tyrrhenians.  The Greeks maintained possession, but over the centuries it was occupied by the Romans, Parthenopeans, Visigoths, Vandals, Ostrogoths Arabs, Normans, Swabians, and the Angevins.   In 1301 Mt Epomeo (Ischia's volcano) erupted and destroyed the city below the castle. In 1441 Alphonso of Aragon rebuilt the castle.  He also built an artificial bridge between the two islands.  Towards the beginning of the 18th century the fortress hosted 1892 families in addition to a convent, an abbey, a seminary and a prince with his garrison.  There were 13 churches.  Around 1750, when danger from pirates and war was over, people left the castle for the bigger island.  In 1809 the British besieged the stronghold, which was under French rule and shelled it till it was nearly destroyed.  In 1823 the King of Naples evicted the remaining 30 inhabitants and made the castle a place of detention. In 1851 it became a political prison and later a forced residence.   Today it is privately owned and the convent is now a hotel in the summer.

Once inside the castle, its easy to see how so many people could have lived there, the place was vast!  To enter, you walk through a long stone tunnel to an elevator.  Once inside, it was hard to figure how how many levels there were, since there were gardens, walkways, terraces, rooms and cellars everywhere.  The lowest level was still so high up that you had a magnificent view of the city of Ischia and and the surrounding mountains. As we wandered around the fortress, we were amazed at the number of gardens everywhere we looked.  And I don't mean a little square with a few plants, I mean huge orchards and vineyards.  They not only grew decorative plants but many crops as well.  Most of the plants we could not identify, none of us were avid gardeners.  We saw several orange and lemon groves, grape vines were abundant as were olive groves.  Be sure to click on the link to the pictures at the end of the post.  In this case, the pictures tell a much better story.  It was hard to tell  which of the structures were original and which were modern, but the place was absolutely fantastic.  At every turn, we kept saying we need a better word than wow.  The very top portion was being restored, so were weren't able to go all the way up, but in the back corner you could look down over the walls to yet another garden below and we saw men working.  They were using scaffolding to build more stone walls to hold even more gardens.  When you look down, you could see very steep terrain.  Its amazing to see how much real estate you can get from a super steep incline, I've seen it all over the island. 

We finally made our way back to the front on the lowest level and found ourselves in the convent entrance hall and cloister.   The convent housed about 40 nuns, most were the eldest child of noble families.  They were destined to a cloistered life so the inheritance could go the the firstborn male.  From here we found the entrance to a sort of cave.  Turns out it was the nuns cemetery.  There were several chairs with a hole in the bottom and an alcove under the chair for a basin.  The deceased nuns were seated in the chair.  As the body decomposed, the fluids were collected in special vases.  The skeletons were dried and heaped in the ossuary or burial place.  I'm not sure what they did with the vases.

After the castle, we decided to go back to the pizza place in Forio.  It had been recommended to them by another restaurant owner and they wanted to try it.  I told Val and Klee about the bad service, so we were prepared, and not disappointed.  We got there at about 6:30 and the place was empty.  We walked in and sat down as the waiters and cook walked back and forth by our table with out so much as a glance in our direction.  I got the feeling that they weren't open yet, but they watched us walk in and sit down and no one said anything.  After about 10 min, my previous waiter came through the front door and came over to us.  He was the only one who spoke English I think.  He said I'm sorry, we are not open till 7:30.  He said we can have the pizza oven ready in about 20 min if you want to come back then.  It was freezing outside, and we would have been just as happy to sit where we were, but we said we'd come back.  Why did we go back you may ask?  First the pizza is incredible.  2nd, although its a tourist town, its very, very small and the off season.  This was the only sit down restaurant open.  So, we walked around and went back.  They had reserved cards on some of the table, ours included.  That was a nice touch and our service was better this time.  Maybe because we were still the only ones there but we thought it was nice that they opened early for us.

Valerie and Klee left on Friday so I was back on my own again.  I decided to check out a church that TripAdviser recommended. The map showed it was about a 45 min hike.  Remembering my last little walkabout, I decided I better bring something to eat.  The only thing I had was an orange and some peanut M & M's.  That seemed like a balanced lunch, so I packed up and headed out.  Or should I say up.  As it turns out, the tiny church was perched close to the top of the rock formation I can see from my condo.  I walked up and up and up some more.  There were some stunning view's I'll admit, but as the road got steeper, I kept thinking this is going to hurt coming down. It was interesting to see  gardens built into the steep terrain.  There were also some beautiful houses with roof top terraces. 

Near the top I saw an old man leading a horse loaded with firewood.  I stopped to talk to him, although he spoke no English and I spoke no Italian.  I think he offered to take me the rest of the way on horseback, but by then I was about 1/4 mile from the church.  He shook my hand, hugged me and kissed me on both cheeks before I managed to break away and continue on my way.  As luck would have it, the road to the church was blocked by a locked gate.  2 for 2 TripAdviser.  I went as far up as I could go, took some pictures and ate my orange but there was no way to avoid the inevitable.  I now had to go back down.  I got back to the old man who was also eating his lunch.  I think he had stuffed the entire meal in his mouth at once because his cheeks were bulging and he couldn’t close his mouth.  This didn't stop him from offering to take me back up.   I think he had a key to the gate, because he would have come that way with his wood.  I thanked him but said it was getting late, I had to get back. 

I think the trip down took longer because it was so steep.  I had to take small steps so my knees wouldn’t protest as much, but even so, I was in pain by the time I got to the bottom.  The M & M's helped, they lasted most of the way down.  I came upon a nice looking restaurant/garden.  The gate was open, and there were cars in the parking lot, so I went in. Once again, it was a trick.  At least this time the door was locked.  The owner came out and said they would be open for dinner, to please come back.  Not likely my friend. I was so exhausted, I took the following day off and just sat on the couch, read my book, and slept. 

I have one more week here, I'm not sure what I'll do, but its sure to be an adventure.

Link to pictures.  I know there are a lot of them, each one has a caption if you want more detail

https://plus.google.com/photos/118205599704530902363/albums/6092406902084492193?authkey=CILKgNyW9pPwZQ