Castle Aragonese and Castle Balestriere

This is the Castle Arago-nese in Ischia Ponte which we took in during our first real day of touring. David bought our bus tickets (you buy them for a certain period of time, say 90 minutes) and taught us to time-stamp them as soon as we were on the bus or we could be fined. In fact, during our first ride, as we neared Ischia Ponte, a sort of scruffy guy got on. In his shades, he obviously wanted to appear to be a cool guy but something about him, perhaps his 5-o'clock-plus shadow and his long greasy curls, caused me to think he was up to something. After consulting one another later, we found had all had the same thought. So guess who he turned out to be. The ticket inspector!

We rode the bus around hairpin turns, across one-way bridges, squeezing past people, cars, Vespas, and other buses through the narrowest of streets, lurching down hills and careening around curves, the bus driver tooting the horn all the while to warn people we were coming. This is how we got from Buonopane up in the hills down to Ischia at the bottom beside the Mediterranean.

It was a short and very pleasant walk to Ischia Ponte, the resort area right on the beach. We browsed shops, snapped numerous photos, including these two Don took of a policeman who obviously thought he was cooler than cool. In fact, maybe he was. There is no doubt he had style.

We had pizza and a local wine outdoors at a cafe and watched the passing scene. There was lots of blue sky and sunshine but, as ever, that gentle cooling breeze. Ischia Ponte--all of the island, in fact--is painted in lovely colours: pinks, golds, salmons, yellows, and creams. Bright flowers bloom everywhere on glossy, deep green leaves. It is a feast for the eyes.

Our main attraction was the Castle Aragonese on the hill, attached to the land by a causeway. As you can imagine there were great views from various vantage points inside the castle. Here are two: one of Mount Epomeo and another showing Ischia Ponte and Ischia proper beyond.

I won't go into the historical details but will only say that the castle is a delightful place to visit because there are so many different eras represented and types of things to see, from restaurants and snack bars, gardens and olive groves, to art galleries and shops, not to mention the various ruins, artifacts and archives. It seems we were inside for hours and walked for miles. I know we climbed a lot of steps! We took a break at the highest point and had espresso outdoors at a cafe under an umbrella.

We reversed the trip, wandering and browsing back to the bus, lurching and tooting back up the hill to Buonopane, and strolling back to Gianfranco's house...or shall we say Castle Balestriere? We had a nap and woke to find David and Gianfranco in the kitchen preparing another sumptuous meal. We spent the evening visiting with Elena, Francesco, and entertaining little Gianni who is teething and seemed truly content when given a big chunk of buonopane (good bread) to gnaw on.