So happy to see HBO’s My Brilliant Friend Episode 6 , where Lenu gets to leave the Neighborhood and go to Ischia…She was so pensive on her way there, and there’s me, returning ecstatic to one of my most beloved places in Italy…
The island has been adored for its restorative springs since the days of the ancient Greeks, and today is the largest thermal-water destination in Europe, with over 300 spa-hotels and thermal parks.
I fell in love with Ischia 10 years ago, while doing spa research for 100 Places in Italy Every Woman Should Go., and keep returning to discover more of this treasure…The Aragonese Castle, where Renaissance poet Vittoria Colonna once lived and surrounded herself with an elegant court…(AND where Lenu, Nino and Marisa stole away one night for gelato, with this backdrop)…
The exotic La Mortella gardens, created by late/great Lady Susanna Walton….
AND I loved staying in Forio, at the old world-=family run Pensione di Lustro. The town has a Neapolitan/North African vibe to it, and a splash of La Dolce Vita nostalgia at Bar Maria’s Caffe Internazionale, where the glitterati (Liz Taylor, Anna Magnani) used to hang out in the 1950s-60s.
With full on Ferrante Fever, last September, I checked into the Casa Sofia in Sant’Angelo, so I could be close to the beach of Maronti, where everything changed for Lenu…
Sant’Angelo, on the southern part of the island is a most enchanting quiet village.
It was perfect for my jet-lagged self, to arrive on this terrace of what feels like the edge of the world…a paradise with church bells ringing….
From the little harbor I hopped on a motorboat for a 3 euro–3-minute ride to Maronti, with driver Luigi…He had heard something about the “film about that book”, because there was a crew here in the springtime–with “molta attivita”…
The beachfront has completely been built up since Lenu’s times–now packed with clubs, restaurants, rows of umbrellas, happy bathers on a Saturday afternoon…
The sea was as warm and inviting for me as it was for Lenu…The sunset…spectacular…
We’ll see more of this island in Season 2 (YES, My Brilliant Friend has been picked up)! Season 2’s Ischia adventures will take L&L to the beach at the Bay of Citara.. It was named for the Goddess Venus Cytherea, who mourning the death of her beloved Adonis, took a ship to the island, and shed tears here.
Today it’s the site of Ischia’s largest and favorite thermal park–Poseidon…
(Join me for Golden Week in Southern Italy, May 2019...we spend the day in this blissful spot…CLICK FOR DETAILS).
AND for more about spas in Italy–a great way to rejuvenate AND immerse yourself in traditions that go back to the ancient Greeks–check out my recommendations in 100 Places in Italy Every Woman Should Go...
AND for you Ferrante fans, check out my post about my visit to THE NEIGHBORHOOD…CLICK HERE
