Ischia

Travel to Ischia was another tough day, as our initial ferry directly from Sorrento to Ischia was cancelled due to rough weather, so we negotiated our way there via a stopover and change of ferry in Naples. It all sounds simple when written down, but each stop is a battle just trying to work out what time and where each ferry is heading, what terminal it is at, and trying to communicate with the kiosk tellers who sometimes only speak Italian. Im getting a bit better with my Italian, or so I thought, but have been laughed at on a few occasions by how appalling I am at it. At least they have a sense of humour about it. Ive also had a number of occasions when Ive been randomly spoken to or asked questions in Italian, only to have no idea what was being said. 

Ischia is a beautiful little island, roughly the size of Waiheke, off the coast of Naples. We had chosen it as a place to splash out a bit to celebrate Louises birthday on the 10^th. We stayed at a backpackers in our own private room of an old amazing villa situated on a cliffside looking out over the water. The hostel was also owned by two eccentric Kiwi guys who had a pretty playful little puppy called Tequila. As it was Louises birthday we again went out and sampled the local cuisine, where I had one of my best meals yet which consisted of 20 Mussels (although small by NZ standards), with large penne pasta and a white sauce. So good! Louise also had a tasty mean, which was gnocchi pasta with rabbit meat inside a bread bowl. 

Since Louises bday was the day of travel from Sorrento to Ischia, the next two days were spent celebrating. Back in Sorrento I did have some balloons, small chocolate cake, and a funny Italian birthday card that played music and sang (of which I had no idea what it was saying), but her birthday present aside from dinner was to take her to one of the spas on the island. The spa we went to was called Poseidon (The god of water I think?), and it had 22 different types of mineral pools. The only thing was we had to wear little swimming cap things that looked like do-rag which was hardcase. But there was a process which you were advised to follow to get the full effect, and it involved working your way up from 28C through to the 40C pool. The 40C pool had 2 adjoining 15C plunge pools where you had to alternate with. There was also a Japanese bath, which involved walking around in a circle on top of pebbles to massage the bottom of your feet. That was probably our favourite after so many big days of walking, and walking to the top of the island the day before. Louise seemed to really enjoy the day, and funnily enough so did I. It was definitely good to have a few days of pampering, as we have just embarked on a big day of travel to get to Palermo, Sicily.

We are just on the overnight ferry at the moment which has left Naples, and will take 11 hours to get to Palermo. I was worried I would miss out on watching the World Cup final, but fortunately this ship is like a cruise liner. It has bars, restaurants, games room, and even pokie machines! We have our own little cabin too which all seems pretty flash to me. Makes me keen to maybe go on a short cruise one day (only a short one as I may get cabin fever pretty quick!). We made friends with a Canadian couple, and enjoyed watching the final with them, but am gutted that Argentina lost. But ill go to bed tonight and probably dream of the good food that lies await in Sicily, as Louise has been getting me excited about the various different specialties they have down there.