Telltales74: Dashed Hopes and Crushed Dreams, all part of Italy
Barbie and Cindy left a sweltering hot England and were met by a smiling and relaxed (and wounded!!!!) Maynard at the aeroport in a chilly Napoli. He had twisted his finger in the winch on Sylphe several weeks earlier (ouch) and instructed everyone not to tell Barbie. We collected our bags and were off to the Napoli Harbour for a nightcap before being whisked over to Sylphe, which was anchored in the Golfo de Napoli. We were awakened at 5:30 by the sirens of the Guardia di Finanzia who had pulled alongside Sylphe. Then we heard the sounds of several helicopters. Barbie and I thought it was so sweet that all the fuss was being made and that all this activity represented a fine official escort to get us quickly to fashionable Capri and secure a prime location on the pontoon close to the spa, the five star hotels and the shops.
AND THIS IS WHAT THE GIRLS WANTED:
The Girls in their element
Alas it was not to be as was explained in Telltales 73 and several hours later we were permitted to depart and we made our way to the lovely island of Procida, where there was no spa, no five star hotels and no expensive shops. Instead we were seduced .. by Isola Procida, her people and the arrival of Summer and the full moon. The tone was set for the week. Periodically we (the girls) would start our shtick (act) and ask how far we were from Ravello and the Hotel Caruso or Capri and the fine shops only to discover the charm of a perfect linguine vongole in a small family restaurant in Ventotene, a swim in the med, an early morning exchange with the fisherman whose nets we had anchored on top of or the fireworks taking place (and they do a lot of them everywhere) in front of us in the harbour at Ischia or, as in Amalfi on the front deck (the fireworks really were !!!!!!!!!), as we enjoyed our late night grappa with the full moon rising over the Mediterranean Sea
The Boys in their element
In the course of ten days we cruised and crossed through the islands and the Amalfi mainland Coast. Procida, Ischia, Ventotene and Capri were visited, and on the beautiful mainland coast places of the likes of Amalfi, Positano, Salerno and Paestum. One place after the other offers (especially from sea) a spectacular view of this rugged coastline, the houses neatly built upon the steep slopes, green all over the place with lemons for the famous "Limoncella" -liquer. The area is charming, the people friendly and the food better than in a lot of other places in Europe...after all it is Italy........
Procida Town
Paestum Greek ruins
Positano village
We had little or no wind during the complete trip, so the engine took us from place to place, from anchorage to anchorage. And all places have left permanent memories with us. Procida for its great family restaurant on a peaceful island, as it does not get soo many tourists as Capri and Ischia. Ischia will stay with us for the beautiful evenings at anchor right under the Castillo and the CD from the Ischian cabdriver with real Italian napolitan music. Ventotene remains this oasis of peace amongst all this and the roman port and the prison island opposite, make it illuster. Capri is in a league of its own...indescribable, expensive, outrageous, for-the-crowd-that-wants-to-be-seen. (the Tugboat that anchored next to us partied till 5 in the morning keeping us successfully from sleeping.)
On the Italian Mainland coast Amalfi, Positano and Ravello offer an amazing array of cheap tourist shops, fancy cloth shops and 4 of the most expensive and luxurious hotels of Italy. The girls liked them, but hey were "unfortunately" fully booked at the time of our visit...............
They would not have mind staying here.......charming Ravello
Visiting Salerno is a breath of fresh air amidst all these tourist and fancy places. A normal italian town, with ACTUALLY the best food we had all week.
And your own private casino on the foredeck, playing cards
What remains for the sailors amongst you readers: the marinas are limited in number and already full in June. There is no other option than to anchor off.....and the anchorages are all very exposed to a big open sea, so we rolled some at night. Even although there was no wind the constant ferry traffic is enough to create a continuous wash and swell.
AND IF YOU DO GET A BERTH IN PORT: be ready to pay for it....big time.
Hassling for a berth and being turned away
All in all, we could finish off with saying: Been there, done it, ..............(n)ever again!!!!!!!
And this was a
laugh, download
it for your own phone as a ringtone (click on the speaker to listen, or
click on speaker with the right-mousebutton to download)
Roland