Ischia. How many people have even heard the name? And how many have visited? Its next door neighbor Capri has captured the imagination of the international jet set. They and their wannabe hangers on jam Capri port, fill its restaurants and make the island a daytripper’s paradise. But Ischia? Poor and undiscovered (or underdiscovered) Ischia is not poor at all. It is the real deal.

We are here for the next seven days to enjoy the authentic Italian island life. And just what is that? Each day, the sun is hot, you don a bathing suit and do something on the water (boat, swim, preen) even if your tummy is a bit more than you’d like it to be, relax, people watch and then go have a meal of fresh fish, bufala mozzarella, limoncello, caffe, in a simple shack on the beach wearing only your bathing suit and a tee shirt. You enjoy life as though you are king of the world and you are treated like it.

For the next week we are going to be learning how to sail on the Gulf of Naples from a competitive sailing racer. But capitano Andrea is from Ischia and he will teach us much more. He will teach us how to understand and appreciate the wind. How to take what is given and to enjoy it. It is what sailors do. But even more, it is what Ischians do. It is what Italians do and what we love them for. They are ambitious for sure and they want and dream big. But they are realists who lack avarice. When the wind fills their sails, they fly. When it is lacking, they slow down, set anchor and swim. They live as one in nature and with nature. It is what we love.

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So we begin our Ischian odyssey at o’ Vagnitiello, a thermal spa and restaurant just down from the port of Casamicciola where we will start our sailing the next day. We arrive an hour or so before sunset and check in for dinner, in our bathing suits. The spa is closing but before we sit for dinner we are welcome to use the half dozen or so thermal pools, various sized enclosures heated by the island’s underground volcanic activity. We lounge in one pool and then plunge into the frigid sea, try the sauna or another pool and then the sea again. Finally all the pools are closed for the night for cleaning and refilling and we change and move to the roof of the restaurant where we enjoy an aperitif of a couple of bottles of white wine, while the sun sets in the distance and the sky turns a deep orange. After a while, Ruth, the final member of our group, arrives from the Mezzatorre Hotel. We move on to dinner.

What sort of dinner is served at a thermal spa aquatic park? When it’s o’ Vagnitiello its an authentic and delicious dinner. And served by a perfect non-gentleman Antonio, a personable waiter who toys with Nancy (who ordering a small beer gets a shot glass full) and serves up not just a wonderful meal – seafood pasta and fresh fishes – but makes it completely enjoyable as well.

We finish our welcome/sunset meal around midnight and Antonio and his boss personally drive us back to our hotel – in the owner’ little sedan and the park’s tuc tuc, a minuscule scooter with a three person back seat. It is a wonderful end to a great first full day in Ischia. One that has introduced us to the Ischian way of life. Simple and good.

We can’t wait for what lies ahead.

Ci vediamo!
Bill and Suzy