Ischia week two

The 2nd week in Ischia was much less eventful.  This is definitely a tourist island, and December is not tourist season, so almost everything was closed.  For the most part I walked around the island or just relaxed in the condo.  The TV was all in Italian, so I got a lot of reading in.  

One day I decided to go to Sorgente Olmitello on the other side of the island.  TripAdviser described it as:  Scenic / Historic Walking Areas, Waterfalls.  I hopped on the bus, sat back and enjoyed the sights.  There was a quaint small town feel I noticed everywhere I had been.  Everyone seemed to know everyone else and the bus was a great example of that.  Riders got on and off at every stop and without fail, there was someone they knew on the bus.  It was almost like a social hub of sorts, everyone catching up between stops.  Eventually the crowd thinned out as we made our way to a more remote area and I ended up the sole passenger.  I think I said before, the island is a volcanic island and its very mountainous.  This trip was no different and for the last few miles we made our way down a steep, narrow, winding road to a tiny coastal town.

I got off the bus and looked around.  There were only a handful of buildings including one restaurant that looked closed, and no people at all.  Too late to turn back, the bus was gone.  I made my way down to the beach and found a sign pointing to Sorgente Olmitello.  It was kind of creepy, everything was deserted.  I was on a sort of board walk with food stands on one side, but they were all boarded up.  There was a little voice in the back of my head saying 'go back'.  But there was another voice saying 'you've come this far'...  I listened to the latter and kept walking.  After about 1/4 mile I left the beach and headed up a narrow gully with strange rock formations on either side.  I passed two more buildings, one a restaurant and one a hotel, both closed.  It seemed strange to see them here, I was basically in the middle of no where, following a dirt path.  The entire area looked overgrown and deserted, but the arrows kept pointing me onward.  Eventually I came to a house with a 3 legged cat out front and a small dog in the yard.  At least there were people here, but I didn't know if that was a good or bad thing.  Further on I came to a small creek and the trail disappeared into it.  The water level was low and there were good sized sandbars so I continued on.  I rounded a corner and at long last, there was my destination, in all its glory.  I so should have listened to the 'go back' voice. 

What I saw in front of me was a small abandoned brick building with the windows busted out.  The web site (which in all fairness did have a picture of the building) talked about a "famous source of healing mineral water" and "The quality of these waters have been known since antiquity and even of this source was attributed therapeutic properties of a 'divine nature' " (sic).   This fantastic water?  It came dribbling out of a metal pipe on the side of the building.  Which again, in all fairness, was also shown on the web site.  I expected something more, maybe behind the building.  Some kind of waterfall or spring or pool or something.  Nope, this was it.  To add insult to injury, it had started to rain.  By the time I made my way back to the bus top, I was drenched.  I took shelter under the closed restaurant's awning and waited about 30 minutes for the bus.  All the way back to my condo I dripped water on the seat and floor. Oh well I've had worse days.

It was finally time to leave the island and make my way to Naples.  I didn't have to be at the ferry until 11:30, so I took my time.  I slept in, made breakfast and finally checked out.  I decided I would rather take the bus than face another taxi cheat, so I made my way to the nearest stop and waited.  It was a busy street with a grocery store and preschool so there were lots of people to watch.  A guy in a minivan pulled up and got out.  He went around to the rear of his van and raised the back door and out hopped a pony.  He turned back to the van and next brought out a goat.   In a few minutes a car parked next to him and Santa got out.  Santa, the pony and the goat headed over to the preschool and a big cheer went up from the kids.  I guess that's how they roll on Ischia for Christmas. 

After a while I realized all the cars were only going one way.  DUH I was at the wrong bus stop.  This street went up, I needed to go down the hill.  I grabbed my bag and headed to the right bus stop.  By the time I got to the port I was 10 minutes late and the ferry was headed back to Naples.  I had to wait an hour for the next one.  By the time I got to Naples, it was early afternoon.  After I checked in I headed out for some lunch.  I found a pizza place right around the corner that had the best pizza.  It was made in a brick oven and took less then 10 minutes from start to finish. 

Link to pictures:
https://plus.google.com/photos/118205599704530902363/albums/6100443323969141281?authkey=CNyoqJDPnPuApAE