The Pontine Islands

It was time to leave our little retreat in Porto Misano and start heading for Rome, so we upped anchor and set out to Procida, a small island just outside the bay of Naples. There was a delightful anchorage and town there, so we stayed the night.

Pavvie, in a lovely cove in Procida

The main town in Procida

Closing on the main town

Our friendly Uber driver, John

Just off the port of Procida

The Pavlovians and the Seadogs land

Procida was one of those insanely picturesque towns that draped itself over a steep hill like a gown on a marble Roman goddess, so we just had to walk all over it to take in the stunning views of the bay of Naples.

Climbing the main street of Procida 

M2 & M1 take a breath

Main square of Procida

Small harbour in front of the town.

Panorama from the top of Procida

View over the Bay of Naples with Vesuvius in the distance

Old church/fort/jail??

After a calm night in Procida, we headed to Ischia. After several attempts to firmly anchor the boat in a very rocky bay, we accepted a poor anchorage in weed, so I stayed on the boat as anchor watch. Megan went in with the Seafoxes, so I have no photo's.

Seafox in front of a church/castle in Ischia

Next, we headed out to the Pontine Islands. We did a drive by Ventotene, and anchored off the main town on Ponza. Ponza's main claim to fame, apart from being named after Pontius Pilate (there is still a grotto owned by the family and named after him), is as the place of exile and execution for Nero Ceasar. 

Main town of Ponza

Beach, Pavlov in the background

Port crowded with local boats

Swordfish sold off the boat

Harbour promenade in Ponza

Ponza is a popular resort for Roman revellers, but for us, the charm of the place was the beautiful anchorages along the coast line. Ponza is the remnant of a volcanic crater, and the limestone cliffs have been carved by wind and wave into beautiful surfaces.

Our anchorage in Ponza

Looking the other way... 

Beautiful coastline of Ponza

A magnificent wooden yacht

Little island off the end of Ponza

We sampled the wares in the tourist town, met with John and M2 in Ponza, and thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful anchorage. Then it was time to get serious, so we headed back to the coast, sailing to Anzio, site of the US Allied invasion into Italy. Roma, here we come!

Ponza tourist shops

Purse seiners carry little boats to tend the nets

A dolphin surfacing just off Pavlov's stern

Nefarious Napoli and a Cock Tale.

Leaving our little sanctuary in Salerno, we sailed along the Amalfi coast, already immured to its charms. In fact, we were even deaf, dumb and blind to the calls from the Sirens (the ones who lured Odysseus into perilous waters). These sirens were reputed to come from Il Galli, a small group of rocky islands just off the Amalfi coast opposite Positano.

Beautiful cliffs of the Amalfi coast

Amalfi town

Some larger visitors

Il  Galli, the home of the Sirens, who wooed Odysseus.

Waiting to be wooed.

We then headed for the island of Capri, which despite all its mysterious allure, turned out to be a bummer for us. We anchored out in the small bay to the north of the island, and the sea turned very rolly as the wind picked up. J&M2 retreated into the local marina, but at 190E per night, we were scared off. So without putting foot on land, after a sleepless rolly night, we scooted for more sheltered climes and found the absolutely wonderful anchorage at Porto Miseno. This was just fortuitous luck, as it looked interesting as I sailed past, so we turned Pavvie around and went in for a recce. This anchorage turned out to be a real snugglepot, and J&M2 soon joined us in the bay.

The mysterious island of Capri remained mysterious!

Pavlov in Porto Misano

Seafox joins the party 

That volcanic plug shielded us from some bad weather

The local ommegiatori looked after Spit.

Porto Misano was an easy commute to Naples, so the next day we made the hour long trip in. Naples gets a bad rap in lots of the tourist press, including Heikell (the touring bible written by Rod the God) as an evil smelling dirty place filled with crooks and thieves. We found Naples to be a vibrant and interesting city, quite different from these expectations. The layout of the place is quite strange, with large tunnels going under large old building complexes. Its an old city that has been substantially rebuilt, and its architecture reflects its diverse and multi-cultural populace.

Bicoli, the small town next to Porto Miseno

Market street in Napoli 

Naples street scape 

Shop front

Lively vibrant streets

We explored the public transport system, joy riding around the trains, buses and funiculars of Naples.

Naples Funicular system

Public transport spaces

Is this a comment on the speed of train travel?

Just liked the lines....

We wandered around the old town of Naples, with its crowded windy lanes. There is one street we named 'The street of useless things' that sold unusual curios, nativity scenes, puppets and all sorts of bric-a-brac.

The Street of Useless Things

Junk for sale

Its a shrine that sells Slushies

There were some impressive public spaces in Naples, and the atmosphere was vibrant and lively.

Large piazza in central Naples

Statue of Dante in the suburb of Dante

Chunky custard castle

Water feature

A sister arcade to a similar one in Milan

However, the highlight for us in Naples was the National Museum of Archeology, which houses many of the treasures from Pompeii. We spent a day roaming this wonderful museum.

Bust, originally from a water fountain

Unusual polychrome marble statue

Fighting the old bull...

Snakes were often themes for larae (icons of house spirits)

Pompeii fresco decoration

Figurative art 

Stunning silver mirror

Pompeii vase

Gold diadem

Running boys

The original 'Alexander and Darius' mosaic from the Faun House, Pompeii

Ceiling painting in the museum

A rather fishy mosaic

All of this culture leads me to my Roman cock tale (No johnny, don't drink it!). The museum had a 'closed section' devoted to erotica recovered from Pompeii. As usual, these featured many phalluses of rather impressive size.

A phalanx of phalli

Nothing wanting in this member

They could be found sprouting from any surface

Hate to speculate on what these were used for??

Erotic art that featured in the brothels

However, all these impressively sized phalluses seemed to shrink to impossibly small features on many of the main statues.

Small ...

smaller ...

smallest ...

The hulk ... or not!

Now I'm starting to feel pity.

So I'm not sure of the moral for this cock tale, but maybe it should involve the perils of over-exaggeration and under-representation. The truth must surely be out there, to quote Mulder.

Only Italian soldiers could have such pretty pom-poms

Busy Naples streets

Buying fruit

Naples can be slightly overwhelming, so we retreated to our quiet haven at Bicoli. We have some good friends of ours, Tony and Julia, arriving in a few days in Rome. So our next journey will be making some haste up the coast to Fiumicino on the river Tiber, where we plan to rendezvous. Ciao for now!

The mooring field of Porto Misano

Lovely park on the lagoon at Bicoli