Ischia

I had never heard of Ischia before moving here, but, then again I had also barely heard of Capri. Ischia is like a less commercialized version of Capri, and thus, less expensive. Which is part of the reason we decided to take a day trip here. Island, gorgeous, a little closer and not as expensive as Capri- why wouldn't we want to take a day trip. Ischia is known more for its natural thermal spas then just for being a beautiful island off the Almafi Coast. I personally think that it's just as pretty. Maybe Capri is cooler because it has the Blue Grotto and rock beaches... or, I guess it's more like boulder beaches (which are very cool btw)...

So we decided to get up early on Labor day, (drop our car off at the shop,) catch the metro to Naples, and then the hydrofoil (ferry) to the island. We got there 5 minutes before the next hydrofoil and the ticket counter guy looked at us like we were crazy... but we ran, only to stand in line for like 15 mins anyway. Oh Italia...
We went with two of our single sailor friends , Chris and David. By the time we got there the breakfast-less guys were quite famished, so first things first- food! We wandered around until we found a cute little restaurant and ate brunch(?). We walked around some more and decided we should go to a spa. Only once we found one, we realized we didn't feel like spending the money... so it was off to explore the island! We decided the fun and fast way to do so would be to rent vespas, which we've really been wanting to do. However, much to our demise you have to have a motorcycle license to rent one. Though I must admit my eyes probably sparkled at this news- just another reason I need a motorcycle license, James ;-) Convincing him has been a work well in progress ;-) Anyway, the guy offered us this car (?) rental which we decided was almost as cool... but you can judge for yourselves...

So we drove this jeep-ish thing around the island (I think it only took two hours to circle the whole island), we found some "must come back" scenic spots, beach spots and restaurants when we have more than just a day to enjoy. It was a gorgeous drive and a ton of fun. The guys took turns driving every time we took a scenic break. And on one of the breaks James and Chris decided they could lift the car... I got a video but no pics, sorry.
The funniest part was probably trying to get gas though. Here, when we need gas everything is full service, so we've never had to learn how their system works. Apparently we should have taken notes. There is this little machine to the side where you pay and tell the machine which pump you're at and then you pump and go. Only I wish it was that easy. And yes, there were English directions on the pump. We couldn't figure it out, so when another car pulled up on the other side we watched and waited to try and learn. We got this! 1. Deposit money 2. Click button 2 for side 2 3. Pump... Only #3 for us ended up as- nothing. Hm. When we first got there, we got behind someone else pumping gas so we knew that it worked, and we looked at the machine which said after 5 minutes it would reset, and we had already spent about 3 minutes messing with the buttons and pump... after probably another 2 minutes, just in time, we got it. And I still don't know how to work it, but we (or they) got it and we were on the road again, and I guess that's all that mattered in the moment. Success :-)

All and all it was fun and fabulous! And the car idea turned out to be a good one!
Hope you enjoyed our little day tour of Ischia... I'm sure we'll be back again :-)