Ischia

The Naples port and its associated ferry companies have a plethora of one star reviews. For these companies to still be in operation despite such poor customer feedback really tells you that the destinations that they sail to must be worth visiting.

To be fair, my experience with Naples Port was extremely satisfactory. Signs pointed us to the correct building, the line was short, the ferry was right outside, departed on time and arrived early at Porta Ischia. However, I can understand that any hurdle in this process, particularly for those tourists transferring to the ferry on foot from Napoli Centrale via the wild Corso Umberto I, might be a little prone to stress. Allora, the woman behind the counter when I paid for the return tickets barely glanced up from Little Big Farm on her phone, but I wouldn't deduct any stars because of that.

Ischia is a beautiful island that you need far more than a day to explore because it is way too hot in the steamy Mediterranean air to get a lot done between 11 and 4. Nor is it a tranquil escape from Napoli, just an island variation. (Note: I recant this remark, it is wild there but nothing on Naples.)

What we did get done was a walk to and up Castello Aragonese d'Ischia, a stronghold in stark contrast to the Germanic and British fortresses I have visited previously. This one stands above the sea, built on volcanic rock and featuring gardens and olive groves that frame the view over azure water and the colourful, jagged towns that stretch from the beach up into the sheer, green hills.

After making it back to our flat in Naples we planned a walk across the street for pizza, followed by a short stroll before an early bedtime. The pizza happened according to plan, but what was supposed to be a quick visit to Castel dell'Ovo (pretty impressive) via Fontana del Gigante (a bit meh, although the only thing in the entire city not decorated in white and blue). We ended up walking another three-plus kilometres back, up Via Toledo before weaving and getting lost multiple times in the Quartieri Spagnoli. Words could not describe the glorious mayhem that this long stretch of humanity put on display. It was like Rundle Street during the Fringe on the busiest weekend in March, extrapolated across kilometres of 16th century avenues and alleyways. The population of Naples is only 2.2 million people, I think they were all there. It made me wish that I was young and also had two million friends.