Sunday,
September 03, 2006
The
ANNOTICO Report
Ischia, is just off the coast of
Ischia:
Special to The Epoch Times
By Curtis Ellis September
02, 2006
A handwritten
sign tacked to a tawny boulder on a rocky scrap of Mediterranean shoreline
warns "beware of boiling water" in English, Italian and French. A few
feet away, bathers soak in crystalline pools as steam rises around them.
Onshore, an enterprising cook sells eggs and chicken boiled in a bubbling
spring. Sunbathers perch on wooden planks set above the searing volcanic ground
at the base of the golden cliffs.
So passes another
day at Baia di Sorgeto on
the Italian
Movie stars and
the yacht-borne wealthy replaced the emperors, and now thousands of tourists
from all over Europe throng
Like nearby
Capri, Ischia is a short ferry ride from
You
Even the most
modest motels offer thermal waters, with swimming pools, spa treatments, or
both.
At the high end,
the five-star Regina Isabella hotel and its sister property the Reginella boast expansive spas with a variety of
treatments, some not available in the U.S. Medical doctors and osteopaths are
on staff along with dermatologists and massage therapists.
The Regina
Isabella taps thermal wells for its spa pools and immersion tubs and volcanic
water is mixed with super refined clay for the mud spa treatments. Private
plunge pools in the posh royal suites can be filled with thermal, fresh or sea
water.
Salvatore, a
masseur at the Regina Isabella, will tell you about kneading Elizabeth Taylor,
in full make-up. She stayed at the hotel while filming "Cleopatra,"
one of the many jet setters who frequented the hotel in the
I didn
But the primo
thermal spa experience is just a five-minute walk from Lacco
Ameno and it
You
The grotto "Omphalos" (meaning navel) evokes Satyricon,
steam cloaking the bathers reclining indolently within. The waters alternate
from hot and cold as you walk the pebble-bottomed Japanese labyrinth. I
expected to see Pan himself in the pond landscaped with a waterfall and cave
and perched high on the hillside.
A perfect
espresso or fresh fruit smoothie from one of Negombo
This is
Bronzino and dorada
are ubiquitous; most establishments will cook to order?grilled, poached or sautied
as you please. The Mediterranean swordfish is smaller than its Atlantic cousin
(perhaps the result of overfishing) and tastier.
All the food
seems to taste better than stateside. As evidence, one need go no further than
the hundred plates arranged on the Regina Isabella
Ristorante La Pace takes the prize
for setting. A rustic collection of seaside picnic tables under thatch roof and
accessible only by boat, it feels like something from "Swept Away."
We had both seafood and rabbit for lunch. Coniglio a l
After our
"Swept Away" lunch, we embarked on a Homer-esque
odyssey with our boat-pilot Luigi exploring coves carved from the green
volcanic tufa stone of the island. Anchoring a couple
hundred yards offshore, we swam to the other-worldly steaming
This, like the
alchemist
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