We weighed anchor just before 11:00 and left our home of Capri and set sail for the 20 mile hop to Ischia. We motored for three quarters of the trip, but about 5 miles off the coast of Ischia the wind picked up and we raised our sails and gently sailed into a southern bay just below Castello Aragonese.

After lunch we promptly dispatched the tender and made our way ashore for provisions and some light refreshments. Ischia is a beautiful island and the town very clean and charming. The supermarket was a short walk from the quay side and had all we needed. Apparently, its very popular with Germans and it is claimed that Angela Merkel visits every year. There are hot spring baths, and both Elaine and I are trying to convince Edward to have a go to cure his ailments.

Some of the local residents are pictured below

And so back to Arctura and Elaine settled into the F A Cap final of Manchester United and Chelsea, we are not allowed to talk about the result. I prepeared a spaghetti carbonara and we consoled Elaine with food and wine. We stayed on deck and looked out toward Capri, from whence we came and suddenly there was a huge greenish trail of horizontal sparks and light trails. We are all convinced that what we saw was a meteor skimming the atmosphere as it was far out to sea and in no way could have been a firework. Wow what a sight and so bright. An omen for good things to come, me thinks.

Wow, what a fantastic and calm night. This anchorage is perfect with no swell. Yes its true there’s no wind so that may have been a contributing factor.

Well we have decided to stay on another day and our first port of call is Castello Aragonese. The entry fee is €10 per person, but I have to say it’s defintely worth it. We spent 3 hours walking through the rooms, gardens, churches and cafe and bars. Its amazing, the smell of the flowers, the views of the surounding area and the shear construction of this awesome place took me aback. I think the best way I can describe it is in some of the many pictures that i took.

These photo only show a fraction of what is found whilst exploring the Castello and the history of this fantastic island and the Castello would take many volumes of paper, so I’ll leave that for you to discover on the web. Needless to say I’m in awe.

After our tour we stopped at a beautiful resturant just the over side of the walkway from the Castello “ Ristorante Bar da Coco”. I highly recommend this for great fresh seafood and fairly priced. The resturant is a family run place for families. Most customers were Italians enjoying a Sunday lunch with family and friends and not a single iPhone or iPad in sight, WONDERFUL.

 

Well after all this we had to take the 2.5km walk to the main port. What a disappointment after what we have seen, but I’m sure there’s more to explore and be seem, but alas our time here is coming to and end.

Back on Arctura we put the tender away and I went for a refreshing dip around Arctura to freshen up and await the culernary delights of Elaine’s cooking tonight.