Good evening everyone, it's a case of the late show for this week's blog, commencing some 4 minutes before midnight as one week comes to a close and passes the baton to a fresh 7 days of fun on the good ship Ischia. After a week of dramatic weather the pause button has been temporarily pressed to leave us with a beautiful, peaceful, star-filled evening while nature decides which of its intriguing box of tricks to send our way next.
We're really in the middle of the coldest, wettest period of the year and there's still a bit more to come according to the forecasts. Today saw a break from the dampness that we've had for the last couple of weeks which was instead replaced by some potent, gale-force winds. Glancing across down to Chiaia Beach today provided a fascinating show of nature with large swathes of crisp, azure blue being shaken by thick, foamy white lines racing towards the shore. Interspersed with this engaging vista were the sight of brightly-coloured canopies being controlled by the fun-loving, edge-living and danger defying kite-surfers who day-dream about these very conditions that come around oh so rarely. For land-lubbers such as myself the thought of hurling yourself through mid-air at the mercy of the changing direction of the fearsome Libeccio wind is not particularly appealing but a quick zoom of the camera lens showed nothing but maddened joy on the faces of the combatants as they skilfully displayed their art to the open-mouthed crowd on the beach. A little later in the day the sky took an even more sinister turn, the blue skies of earlier replaced by a thick, dark corona of evil looking cloud that appeared on the horizon, seemingly full of malintent. Once in place, a devilishly dark tube started to dervishly whirl its way from the bottom edge of the cloud, bound to make contact with the sea somewhere in the vicinity of San Montano Beach in Lacco Ameno. The formation of this short-lived tornado was fascinating to watch and to witness as the changing coastal scenery provided a memorable day's entertainment. Before long the winter coldness will start to give way to the re-birth of spring when visitors to Ischia will be able to enjoy seeing the island come to life with its beautiful array of colour provided by a large variety of plants and flowers. There are some great walking routes where you can enjoy some stunning views such as the one on display in today's photo. In early spring you can walk from the village of Panza to the Monte di Panza and the Sentiero Baia Pelara, two hiking trails which combine to lead from a pretty, rocky cove to the top of the small mountain which gets carpeted with red poppies and yellow daisies from where you can look down on to the effervescent village of Sant'Angelo in the distance. There are lots of great ways to enjoy your visit to Ischia so if you've got a visit planned and you're stuck for ideas, just drop us a line and we'll give you all the help you need to make your trip as memorable and special as possible. Ok, the gale's blowing again outside now and after a whirlwind of a week I think it's time to repair to the relaxing stillness of the bedroom. Have a great week wherever you may be and keep an eye on our daily weather report if you're visiting Ischia in the near future. Until next week, ciao :-) Dion Protani Sunday 1st February 2015 - [email protected] Today's Saint's/Name Day: Santa Verdiana, Brigida Today in history: The ill-fated Columbia space shuttle stuns the watching world as it disintegrates after entering the earth's atmosphere, ending the lives of each of its seven astronauts. (2003) Born on this day: Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin (1931), American film director John Ford (1895) Sun-rise (alba): 07:12 Sun-set (tramonto): 17:21 Comments are closed.
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AuthorHi, I'm Dion Protani, the creator of Ischia Review. I'm here in Ischia to tell everybody about this wonderful island and the weekly blog is designed to give you an insight into the culture and everyday life in Ischia. |