ISCHIA ON SUNDAY - THE WEEKLY ISCHIA BLOG: SUNDAY 5TH OCTOBER 2014
Pedalo at Maronti Beach in Barano
ISCHIA ON SUNDAY - THE WEEKLY ISCHIA BLOG: SUNDAY 5TH OCTOBER 2014
Welcome to our weekly Ischia blog, Ischia on Sunday. Here you can see the entry for Sunday 5th October 2014.
Good Afternoon Ischia!
As the Small Faces would have crooned all those years ago, it's a lazy Sunday afternoon in Forio, but lazy as it may be the week wouldn't be complete without at least a few comments from yours truly about the state of things on the island as we smoothly move into the month of October.
I shall start with the weather, perhaps the first thing you all check on before kindly paying us a visit, and I'm very pleased to say the outlook is fabulous for the reasonably predictable future.
For purposes of scene-setting I've just carried out a brief walk around the garden to see what's going on and the first thing to note is the temperature. It's warm, bordering on hot with temperatures around the 25° Celcius (76° Fahrenheit) mark, still more sunbathing than hiking weather. The garden itself is currently in a state of transition, all of our winter and spring enthusiasm evaporated as the busy summer season arrived, giving us less time to nurture and erm, water the plants and until early last week the whole area was looking bedraggled and devoid of any life, characterized by the zombie-like sunflowers that died a long time ago yet continued to live a slightly macabre afterlife until being put out of their misery by messrs Black and Decker.
In fact it wasn't just the sunflowers that suffered this mechanical fate, the dahlias that simply couldn't go on without water were also chopped down to their roots in the hope of an autumnal renaissance and there are already some green shoots of recovery that suggest the process could be working. The undoubted success stories remain the effervescent hibiscuses, one of the mainstays of gardens in Ischia and going strong here with a variety of colours such as the ever popular red and a magnificent purple and white hybrid with its dinner-plate-sized flower head (ok maybe I'm exaggerating slightly, more of a side-dish perhaps but you get the idea). In an almost forgotten corner of the garden another Ischia favourite has come out of its shell with a seemingly dead Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia) surprising us all by casting its dazzling form amongst the weeds that surround it.
Away from the garden, we're coming towards the end of the real summer season, in fact there are some hotels that are closing as early as today and others will start to follow suit over the coming days of weeks. The majority will stay open until around the third week of October while some of the thermal parks will eke things out a little longer and even into November in some cases. So there is a strong sense of people now looking forward to their holidays, many of the hotel workers will enjoy a period of as much as 6 months off but there are also those who will leave the beaches and sunshine of Ischia and head up to the mountains and ski resorts in Switzerland and Italy itself.
Having said all that, there's still much to look forward to during the autumn months. With the weather in October typically staying bright, sunny and warm, Ischia is a great place to come and escape the cooler, damper climes of Northern Europe or North America and even when things start to cool down in November, there are all of those great hiking routes to enjoy with their stunning scenery and palate-watering restaurants dotted along the way, ready to welcome visitors with their traditional fayre.
Today's photo comes once again from Maronti Beach, hard to ignore when the water is so colourful and clear. In fact so inspired am I by the pedalo as it bobs around on the sea that I think I'll get out on the water myself this afternoon, perhaps on a canoe to make the most of the favourable conditions and also kick-start a much-needed fitness regime.
So for this week, from a lazy, sleepy Ischia, I bid you all a happy weekend and week to come. Drop us a line if you need anything and we'll be happy to oblige with our assistance.
Until next week.
Ciao :-)
Dion Protani
Sunday 5th October 2014 - [email protected]
Today's Saint's day/Name day: San Placido martire
Today in history: Italy introduces the Gregorian calendar for the first time (1582)
Born on this day: English actress Kate Winslet (1975)
Sun-rise (alba): 07:03hrs - Sun-set (tramonto): 18:40hrs
As the Small Faces would have crooned all those years ago, it's a lazy Sunday afternoon in Forio, but lazy as it may be the week wouldn't be complete without at least a few comments from yours truly about the state of things on the island as we smoothly move into the month of October.
I shall start with the weather, perhaps the first thing you all check on before kindly paying us a visit, and I'm very pleased to say the outlook is fabulous for the reasonably predictable future.
For purposes of scene-setting I've just carried out a brief walk around the garden to see what's going on and the first thing to note is the temperature. It's warm, bordering on hot with temperatures around the 25° Celcius (76° Fahrenheit) mark, still more sunbathing than hiking weather. The garden itself is currently in a state of transition, all of our winter and spring enthusiasm evaporated as the busy summer season arrived, giving us less time to nurture and erm, water the plants and until early last week the whole area was looking bedraggled and devoid of any life, characterized by the zombie-like sunflowers that died a long time ago yet continued to live a slightly macabre afterlife until being put out of their misery by messrs Black and Decker.
In fact it wasn't just the sunflowers that suffered this mechanical fate, the dahlias that simply couldn't go on without water were also chopped down to their roots in the hope of an autumnal renaissance and there are already some green shoots of recovery that suggest the process could be working. The undoubted success stories remain the effervescent hibiscuses, one of the mainstays of gardens in Ischia and going strong here with a variety of colours such as the ever popular red and a magnificent purple and white hybrid with its dinner-plate-sized flower head (ok maybe I'm exaggerating slightly, more of a side-dish perhaps but you get the idea). In an almost forgotten corner of the garden another Ischia favourite has come out of its shell with a seemingly dead Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia) surprising us all by casting its dazzling form amongst the weeds that surround it.
Away from the garden, we're coming towards the end of the real summer season, in fact there are some hotels that are closing as early as today and others will start to follow suit over the coming days of weeks. The majority will stay open until around the third week of October while some of the thermal parks will eke things out a little longer and even into November in some cases. So there is a strong sense of people now looking forward to their holidays, many of the hotel workers will enjoy a period of as much as 6 months off but there are also those who will leave the beaches and sunshine of Ischia and head up to the mountains and ski resorts in Switzerland and Italy itself.
Having said all that, there's still much to look forward to during the autumn months. With the weather in October typically staying bright, sunny and warm, Ischia is a great place to come and escape the cooler, damper climes of Northern Europe or North America and even when things start to cool down in November, there are all of those great hiking routes to enjoy with their stunning scenery and palate-watering restaurants dotted along the way, ready to welcome visitors with their traditional fayre.
Today's photo comes once again from Maronti Beach, hard to ignore when the water is so colourful and clear. In fact so inspired am I by the pedalo as it bobs around on the sea that I think I'll get out on the water myself this afternoon, perhaps on a canoe to make the most of the favourable conditions and also kick-start a much-needed fitness regime.
So for this week, from a lazy, sleepy Ischia, I bid you all a happy weekend and week to come. Drop us a line if you need anything and we'll be happy to oblige with our assistance.
Until next week.
Ciao :-)
Dion Protani
Sunday 5th October 2014 - [email protected]
Today's Saint's day/Name day: San Placido martire
Today in history: Italy introduces the Gregorian calendar for the first time (1582)
Born on this day: English actress Kate Winslet (1975)
Sun-rise (alba): 07:03hrs - Sun-set (tramonto): 18:40hrs
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