Back to Procida

Our explorations of the Naples area with the family had already included a half day trip downtown to check out the Naples Archaeological Museum, a drive around our home in Campi Flegrei, the Amalfi Coast trip, and a day trip to Herculaneum was coming later in the week. We were leaving for our week in Tuscany shortly, so as our final day trip choice, we picked taking the ferry to the island of Procida. Nathan and I had visited Procida for the first time in July, and we both loved it, so I was excited to return...and Procida did not disappoint the second time around. I love the smallness of the island, the vibrant colors, and the "local" feel. We walked around the Marina Grande area and over the hill to Marina Corricella, where we watched boaters row about, using umbrellas perched in their boats as shade. Then up, up, up the stairs to a nearby bar for the obligatory gelato stop, and back down to the marina, where we caught a bus to the other end of the island, Marina Chiaioella. This end of the island was purely residences and beaches. Businesses consisted of lidos (pay beaches) and a couple of restaurants serving the beach patrons...and us for a decent lunch right on the beach, watching the waves against the clean, light sand beach. This end of the island has a land bridge over to another island, Vivara, all of which is now a limited access, nature reserve. Getting to and walking around Procida is the fun part, but boy is it hard to get off that rock! Both last visit and this one ended with a bit of trouble and delays. This time around, we'd wanted to return to Pozzuoli, the port nearest my home and an easy, quick metro ride home. With the Pozzuoli boat cancelled and the next one over an hour away, we decided to take the boat leaving soon for the Naples port. This gave us the opportunity to see a little more of downtown Naples, including the Galleria Umberto and it's iconic, glass roof, then catch a tourist bus to the airport, where Nathan could easily pick us up on his way home from work.