Ischia 24th May Martedi

24th May Martedi

Andrew did his usual trick and gave me just a couple of days notice that we were off to Ischia. I love surprises!
I eventually went to bed at about midnight too excited to sleep and was up again by 2.10am making coffee, we set off at 3.45am to Stansted.
Nice clear motorways, the flight took 2 1/2 hrs. We were met at Napoli airport and driven to the port, tickets purchased, we sat looking out to sea waiting for the hydrofoil to appear.
I can't wait to be back in Ischia and to show Andrew the places that I know there, and explore the places I didn't get to with him. Our honey-holiday as Maria used to say, it's been 9 years since I was there.
We stayed outside on the hydrofoil watching Napoli disappear and Ischia grow closer.
Docked at Ischia Porto and again were met by a taxi driver who drove us to Mezzatorre Resort and Spa Hotel near Lacco Amino on the other side of the island.
It's a fabulous hotel perched right on the end of the island with it's own little jetty.
We were shown our room with it's own terrace overlooking the sea, and had a guided tour of the place.
We went down to the poolside restaurant to find some lunch accompanied by some wine and beer of course. Freshly grilled scampi and insalata Capri yummy. The pool is located right next to the sea so lovely views there too.
Not so lovely are the mahogany old dears on parade topless by the pool. Danger -avert eyes to keep lunch down. No, they didn't really have a warning notice, but they should have!
After lunch we changed and took the hotel bus down to Lacco Amino - this is the smallest town on Ischia and stretches from the coast up to Monte Epomeo. We walked by the sea looking at Il Fungho - the giant mushroom shaped rock that is Lacco Amino's landmark, said to have fallen from the mountain. We mooched around the shops and sat drinking wine at a little bar by the sea till it was time for dinner. La Sirenella provided us with Capri insalata, pizza and wine, again sitting by the sea and watching Lacco Amino come to life for the evening. The square is lit up with fairy lights on the trees, very pretty. Eventually we found a taxi and conceding defeat after no sleep last night, went straight to bed.