camminando | Ischia, Earth, Water and Sky: Climb to the Top

Monte Epomeo crowns Ischia: a recognizable visible sign of the complex geomorphology of the island visible from far away throughout the bay and even from the city of Naples. Today I climbed  3km to reach the peak of the 788 mountain from the town of Serrara Fontana; the climb accounts a combination of steep roads and foot  paths, often carved in the soft volcanic rock. Almost at the top of the mountain a small church carved in rock announces the breathtaking views to be enjoyed (if you are not afraid of heights) from a few hundreds meter ahead...

practice | Morning Prayer at Sunrise

My daily practice (or morning prayer) began this morning at sunrise, on the beach, when the sun was rising from the ocean framed by l'isola di Vivara and il Castello Aragonese.

camminando | Ischia Circulambulating the Crater

Cretaio (also called Rotaro) is a lava cone created during a volcanic eruption in 91 BC. Cretaio is definetely reminiscent of Dante's trip...

Events | Ischia Sunrise

From night to day, coming back to a circle, with Castello Aragonese at the center of my sight-lines

camminando | Ischia, Castello Aragonese, Carta Romana

In my first 2012 day in Ischia the focus was on Castello Aragonese, seen from different viewpoints. It started from Ischia Ponte, then continued in via Carta Romana, with views of Capri, passing by la Torre di Guevara (called also Torre di Michelangelo, as the artist was believed to have spent time there. Scogli di Sant'Anna also emerge from the Mediterrean sea

camminando | Islands: Ischia

 

It seems like traveling to a different universe, when a 40-minute hydrofoil ride takes me to Ischia, away from the tense Neapolitan scenes where all the locals approached when asking for directions to Molo Beverello, tell me to be careful with my belongings. Ischia is the closest place I envision paradise to be like, and I am still stating it after my fourth visit to this island.
Ischia is a volcanic island about 30 km from Naples. Hydrotherapy, blessed by is one of the many lures the island offers Among the others: scent of flowers and lemon trees, several hundreds feet cliffs diving in the crystal clear mar Tirreno. Ischia witnessed several thousand years of history: it was inhabited since the Bronze age, as from the Mycenaean pottery findings. Ancient Greeks, Etruscan and Romans followed. Homer and Virgil wrote about Ischia, although was called with different names: Aenaria, Arima, Inarima and Pithecusa.

I would not go in summer as I don't enjoy crowd and noise immersion ---my taste many others do, otherwise the island woul not be noisy and overcrowded in summer. My other visits were in spring, this is my first staying in Ischia in the approaching winter season, in the hope to still enjoy outdoor swimming in the outdoor thermal water pools. The weather in Italy this year is extremely warm (almost 20 degrees Celsius) yet walking to Spiaggia della Citara is not encouraging for a dive in the sea. But the sunlight shining on the ocean is magical and the views breathtaking, my hotel welcoming and beautiful... R&R has finally begun!

 

Excerpts from the conceptual multimedia project

“Axes Mundi: Perceptions and Understanding of Places as Intersections of Space, Time and Culture"

camminando | Ischia