Island of Procida sept 16th

September 16th, 0745

I am adding pics to this today (Nov 23, 2012) so you can see what we saw.

Up this morning to a glorious sunny day. Temp is about 68 degrees. We are debating finding some breakfast food and going to church.  Breakfast won out! It was lite, an egg for Renne', some watermelon, two bananas, coffee for Doug, Barb, and me, ,and tea for Renne'.  Doug and I washed and rinsed clothes,

while the girls got the interior cleaned up.  We departed the marina by 1100and headed back north to the island of Procida.  A large midevil castle is on the top of the island, 100 meters above the water.

The castle as it turns out has had several occupants.  It has been used as a regional prison, government offices, and today, most of the castle is made up of apartments.  Pretty cool.

We anchored among 125+ recreational boats here for probably the last nice weekend of boating before the winter comes on.

Once on the hook, we ate lunch of slice ham,  prosciutto ham, slice Parmesan, cheese, olives, carrots, cucumber, and watermelon in the cockpit.  The interesting view was the city itself. Most of the buildings facing the water are painted in pastel colors.  It is really unusual.

With that done, we headed into town on the dinghy to see the castle.    We walked up 151 steps, each 8-9 inches high. So we climbed about 140 feet in elevation, and still another 150 feet of incline to get to Belvedere (the castle in the earlier photos), the observation area of the island.

The castle was built to defend the coast, and the cannons are stamped 1787-we had just finished the War of Independence in the States

Hard to comprehend that!  Looking out to the south, you can see Mt. Vesuvius (destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum) on the upper right of this photo.

But the buildings were beautiful!The castle actually has had several uses since then including a prison and some government facilities.  Today, most of it is used as apartments, and it appeared to be full! You can see apartment windows above.

Doug and Bar went one way and Renne' and I another and we wandered around for another two hours.  

 The church here in town was built here 1679. 

We found a restaurant and had "Ensalada del Mare" (seafood salad) with clams, mussels, shrimp, calamari, and squid; a liter of local white wine from a ceramic pitcher; and homemade bread with olio de olive. (you can see the restaurant with the umbrellas)

Wow, what a meal. We found Doug and Barb walking on the seafront and sat with another beer before heading back to the boat.

We have watched all but 2 other sailboats and 2 motor yachts leave by sunset. We are sitting here at anchor. It is about 70 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.  Dinner will be fried chicken, rice, and green beans. 

Since we aren't at the dock, you have missed us for sundowners tonite.  Tomorrow we leave for the "Isle of Capri" for the night then south.  We will let you know where to catch up with us for a drink. Until then, sleep well.  We are rolling gently and expect to sleep well ourselves.

Jon and Renne'

Aboard Plankton with Doug and Barb