GOOD MORNING ISCHIA! MONDAY 7TH APRIL 2014
Sentiero Baia Pelara, Panza
GOOD MORNING ISCHIA! MONDAY 7TH APRIL 2014
Welcome to our Ischia blog, Good Morning Ischia! Here you can see the entry for Monday 7th April 2014.
Good Morning Ischia!
After the sobering news that the story about Ischia's incredible talking cat, Aprila proved to be nothing more than a shameless hoax, we all have to try and somehow get on with our lives without that magical lingual link to the animal kingdom. The good news is that it's made easy by simply peering out the window to see another beautiful day ahead on the island of Ischia. The sun is already shining and our brief little spell of unsettled weather seems to be behind us with temperatures for today and the next few days up around 20° Celsius (68° Fahrenheit) and not a cloud in sight.
Today's photo comes from one of my favourite parts of the island, Panza which despite being a very sleepy little village seems to regularly turn up new and interesting places to see. The latest pleasant surprise to me was the excellent Sentiero Baia Pelara which is an area of natural beauty that's been made easy to explore by a local association who have carved out a path along some of Ischia's most dramatic and varied scenery. The walk is relatively short, it took us just over half an hour from start to finish, but still manages to pass through several different types of terrain from forest to meadow to mountain slope and then into a rocky bay.
To reach Sentiero Baia Pelara you will most likely have a little bit of a walk ahead of you, unless you're staying at one of the nearby hotels such as Punta Chiarito Resort or Torre Sant'Angelo, you will first need to head to the village square of Panza which can be reached by the number 1 bus. From the village square you then need to continue on foot, walking towards the coast. From the square there's a large cafe on one corner and the road that it faces is the one you need to walk down. This road is also signposted for Sorgeto Hot Springs and although the sea isn't always visible at the outset, this twisting lane is gradually edging you towards the coast. After 15-20 minutes and before you get as far down as Sorgeto, you will see on your right hand side after a small bend in the road, a couple of wooden signs pointing you towards "Sentiero Baia Pelara" ("Pelara Bay Path") and "Monte di Panza". Follow these two signs which head in the same direction, turning left into a narrow track for a couple of minutes before giving you two choices of direction to continue along. Carrying on in the same direction will take you towards the elevated walk of Monte di Panza, while turning right will allow you to descend into the Sentiero Baia Pelara area.
The first few steps along the path require some careful attention as the steps down can be slippy if it's been raining but with appropriate footwear and a bit of care it becomes much easier. At the bottom of these steps the terrain changes into a small meadow followed by a wooded area full of pretty, colorful wild flowers. As the path continues to twist and turn you come across a little cave on the right which was once inhabited by a hermit before the terrain starts to change once again. As you leave the small wooded area the scene opens up in front of you of a lush green valley with a small, rocky bay in the distance. At this stage there are some wooden, roped rails to help keep you steady as you start to descend towards the bay. I'm an absolute disaster when it comes to dealing with heights but after the briefest of palpitations it becomes obvious that the trail ahead doesn't hold any demons, just dramatic and fantastic scenery.
The trail continues to descend along this path that is obviously very well looked after and you gradually start to feel as if you're in another part of Britain, this time the Scottish Highlands with its rugged green valleys. Dotted with a variety of wild yellow and purple flowers, this area then leads you down the end of the path where you are greeted with a wooden bench and a magnificent vista where you can have a nice rest and just enjoy your surroundings. This area is marked with a sign saying "Fine Sentiero Baia Pelara" meaning the "End of Pelara Bay Path". This is worth taking note of as it can be tempting to continue beyond this point and head down to the rocks. At the time when we took the walk there were a small group of children playing by the rocks down in the bay and we'd previously passed a group of adults who told us they'd been down there themselves. This gave us the impression that it must be easy to continue down to those rocks but I must urge caution to anyone considering it because it's not particularly easy with no obvious path marked out and you will need to get down on all fours at various stages if you want to avoid a slip with a nasty drop at the end of it.
Anyway, whether you choose to continue on down to the rocks or not, the walk down is a very easy stroll which rewards you with some great scenery along the way and then a nice place to stop and have a drink at the end of it. Obviously things are a little tougher on the way back as there are lots of steps to climb but in terms of total walking time you're looking at a total of about an hour or so plus whatever amount of time you choose to stay around the bay at the end of the path. If you were feeling super-energetic you could then try the neighbouring path, the Monte di Panza trail which takes you around an elevated section of the same area but I have to shamefully confess that it was slightly beyond me by the time we got back to the top of the original path.
I'll be trying out the Monte di Panza path soon and will report back with photos and directions but you can see more photos from Sentiero Baia Pelara by clicking on the photo at the top of the blog. Throughout the year we'll be trying to find new areas for the island for you to explore and we've already got a nice selection in our "Ischia Walking Routes" section. Don't forget, we also carry out guided walks in different parts of the island where we'll show you some of the best scenery while also explaining a little bit about the island's culture and history so be sure to drop us a line at info@ischiareview.com if you'd like some more details about that.
Ok that's all from me for today, I'll be back with more later in the week but please keep your e-mails coming in and we look forward to helping you enjoy the island as much as we possibly can.
A presto!
Dion Protani
Monday 7th April 2014 - info@ischiareview.com
Today's Saint's day/Name day: San Ermanno, Giovanni Batista, Cristiano
Today in history: Highway robber Dick Turpin executed for horse-theft (1739)
Born on this day: Australian/Kiwi actor Russell Crowe (1964)
Sun-rise (alba): 06:36hrs - Sun-set (tramonto): 19:34hrs
After the sobering news that the story about Ischia's incredible talking cat, Aprila proved to be nothing more than a shameless hoax, we all have to try and somehow get on with our lives without that magical lingual link to the animal kingdom. The good news is that it's made easy by simply peering out the window to see another beautiful day ahead on the island of Ischia. The sun is already shining and our brief little spell of unsettled weather seems to be behind us with temperatures for today and the next few days up around 20° Celsius (68° Fahrenheit) and not a cloud in sight.
Today's photo comes from one of my favourite parts of the island, Panza which despite being a very sleepy little village seems to regularly turn up new and interesting places to see. The latest pleasant surprise to me was the excellent Sentiero Baia Pelara which is an area of natural beauty that's been made easy to explore by a local association who have carved out a path along some of Ischia's most dramatic and varied scenery. The walk is relatively short, it took us just over half an hour from start to finish, but still manages to pass through several different types of terrain from forest to meadow to mountain slope and then into a rocky bay.
To reach Sentiero Baia Pelara you will most likely have a little bit of a walk ahead of you, unless you're staying at one of the nearby hotels such as Punta Chiarito Resort or Torre Sant'Angelo, you will first need to head to the village square of Panza which can be reached by the number 1 bus. From the village square you then need to continue on foot, walking towards the coast. From the square there's a large cafe on one corner and the road that it faces is the one you need to walk down. This road is also signposted for Sorgeto Hot Springs and although the sea isn't always visible at the outset, this twisting lane is gradually edging you towards the coast. After 15-20 minutes and before you get as far down as Sorgeto, you will see on your right hand side after a small bend in the road, a couple of wooden signs pointing you towards "Sentiero Baia Pelara" ("Pelara Bay Path") and "Monte di Panza". Follow these two signs which head in the same direction, turning left into a narrow track for a couple of minutes before giving you two choices of direction to continue along. Carrying on in the same direction will take you towards the elevated walk of Monte di Panza, while turning right will allow you to descend into the Sentiero Baia Pelara area.
The first few steps along the path require some careful attention as the steps down can be slippy if it's been raining but with appropriate footwear and a bit of care it becomes much easier. At the bottom of these steps the terrain changes into a small meadow followed by a wooded area full of pretty, colorful wild flowers. As the path continues to twist and turn you come across a little cave on the right which was once inhabited by a hermit before the terrain starts to change once again. As you leave the small wooded area the scene opens up in front of you of a lush green valley with a small, rocky bay in the distance. At this stage there are some wooden, roped rails to help keep you steady as you start to descend towards the bay. I'm an absolute disaster when it comes to dealing with heights but after the briefest of palpitations it becomes obvious that the trail ahead doesn't hold any demons, just dramatic and fantastic scenery.
The trail continues to descend along this path that is obviously very well looked after and you gradually start to feel as if you're in another part of Britain, this time the Scottish Highlands with its rugged green valleys. Dotted with a variety of wild yellow and purple flowers, this area then leads you down the end of the path where you are greeted with a wooden bench and a magnificent vista where you can have a nice rest and just enjoy your surroundings. This area is marked with a sign saying "Fine Sentiero Baia Pelara" meaning the "End of Pelara Bay Path". This is worth taking note of as it can be tempting to continue beyond this point and head down to the rocks. At the time when we took the walk there were a small group of children playing by the rocks down in the bay and we'd previously passed a group of adults who told us they'd been down there themselves. This gave us the impression that it must be easy to continue down to those rocks but I must urge caution to anyone considering it because it's not particularly easy with no obvious path marked out and you will need to get down on all fours at various stages if you want to avoid a slip with a nasty drop at the end of it.
Anyway, whether you choose to continue on down to the rocks or not, the walk down is a very easy stroll which rewards you with some great scenery along the way and then a nice place to stop and have a drink at the end of it. Obviously things are a little tougher on the way back as there are lots of steps to climb but in terms of total walking time you're looking at a total of about an hour or so plus whatever amount of time you choose to stay around the bay at the end of the path. If you were feeling super-energetic you could then try the neighbouring path, the Monte di Panza trail which takes you around an elevated section of the same area but I have to shamefully confess that it was slightly beyond me by the time we got back to the top of the original path.
I'll be trying out the Monte di Panza path soon and will report back with photos and directions but you can see more photos from Sentiero Baia Pelara by clicking on the photo at the top of the blog. Throughout the year we'll be trying to find new areas for the island for you to explore and we've already got a nice selection in our "Ischia Walking Routes" section. Don't forget, we also carry out guided walks in different parts of the island where we'll show you some of the best scenery while also explaining a little bit about the island's culture and history so be sure to drop us a line at info@ischiareview.com if you'd like some more details about that.
Ok that's all from me for today, I'll be back with more later in the week but please keep your e-mails coming in and we look forward to helping you enjoy the island as much as we possibly can.
A presto!
Dion Protani
Monday 7th April 2014 - info@ischiareview.com
Today's Saint's day/Name day: San Ermanno, Giovanni Batista, Cristiano
Today in history: Highway robber Dick Turpin executed for horse-theft (1739)
Born on this day: Australian/Kiwi actor Russell Crowe (1964)
Sun-rise (alba): 06:36hrs - Sun-set (tramonto): 19:34hrs
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