Definitely miss the clean air in Sweden it was sad to see the haze of smog over the Napoli coast.
I will say this for the Italians, they will give up a bus seat for a child or older person in a heartbeat... Sofia had it made as most of the buses were packed in Rome and Ischia.
The girls were quite happy to discover that most bathrooms in Ischia had toilet seats. This has become our measuring stick for judging businesses.
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| The view of Forio and the port from our balcony |
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| View from the other side of the balcony |
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| Breakfast of champions... detox from vacation will be hard! |
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| The hotel grounds are beautiful... many fruit trees, very convenient for cocktail hour! |
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Walking through Ischia...
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| Limone gelato! |
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| Gelato #6 |
After discovering that most of the natural hot spring spas are closed for the season and that they do not encourage children to use the hot springs we decided to explore Castello Aragonese. Built in 474 BC the Castello has a long history with a variety rulers. When Mt. Epomeo erupted in 1301 the area enjoyed a boost of development turning it into a real town due to its height. In 1441 a bridge was constructed to connect the island to the mainland. The tiny island boasted 13 churches, 7 parishes. In 1809 the English shelled the fortress almost destroying it. In 1823, it was transformed into a prison. The current owners have cared for and restored the island since 1911.
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| Slightly intimidating elevator panel, but helpful! |
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| View of Forio from Castello Aragonese |
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| Church of the Immacolata - never completed due to lack of funds - beautiful in its white simplicity |
The Convent of S. Maria della Consolazione established in 1575 housed about 40 nuns of the Clarisses' order. The nuns, mostly first born daughters of noble families, were destined for cloistered life so that the family estate could be passed down to the family's first male heir. The convent was shut down in 1810. Thank goodness for modern times!
Warning: the explanation below is 'creepy'!
Beneath the church is the nuns' cemetery, made up of a series of areas housing walled draining seats on which the lifeless bodies were placed. The corpses' flesh slowly decomposed, their humors were gathered in special vases and, finally, the dried out skeletons heaped up in the ossuary. This macabre practice derived from the need to emphasize the absolute uselessness of the body in as much as it was to be seen as a simple recipient of the spirit. I would really hate to be the person who had to take bodies into the 'cemetery'. At first the girls thought maybe it was a group bathroom.
Cathedral of the Assunta, built after the Mt. Epomeo eruption in 1301 was destroyed by English bombing in 1809.
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| The skylights in the tunnels were used to throw stones and boiling pitch on enemies. |
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| Lunch at Coco on the water with a view of the Castello Aragonese |
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| Packed bus ride back to Forio |
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| The hotel has a little area with foosball, bocci and ping pong |
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| Gabby's Halloween celebration for her sisters | |
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| The local kids trick or treated at the shops and restaurants in town |
