Oh island life

Just got back from Ischia...a beautiful island in the South of Italy, just by Naples. To put it lightly it was a little piece of heaven on earth. Its an old volcanic island with one tall peak, covered in thick, green forests and surrounded by white, sand beaches and clear water. Not to mention that the towns had tons of small city character and hotsprings...lots and lots of hotsprings. Our days there went something like this...

day one - arrive at noon, check in and spend the rest of the day lying on the beach and swimming in the sea. The water was warmer then bath water! It almost wasnt refreashing to go in. The beach itself was beautiful but it was incredibly overcrowded with Italians from Naples. This was pretty entertaining, it almost started to become normal that men wear nut huggers and women wear dental floss bottoms. I took a few pictures and 5 minutes later an Italian man came up to me and started demanding "Did you take a picture of me???" I said no no just of the beach but he keep asking and asking...until finally his friend clarified with "WILL you take a picture of me"! haha so I took some pictures and his email address to send them to him.

day two - hiked up to the tallest point on the Island. It took about 1 hour of uphill hiking....we had a lot of those "this better be worth it" moments...which it was. The top was the most beautiful view I have ever seen...beat Mt. Vesuvius and cinque terre believe it or not. You actually stand on this rock outcrop where you were above everything else. Its a 360 degree view of greenery, towns, twisted roads and ocean. Stunning! It was so high up that your actually standing in the clouds.

day three - We spoiled ourselves and went to the town spa. 13 different pools of different temperatures...some in caves, some hot cold, some aromatherapy and reflexology...not to mention gardens and a privet beach. We met some Australian friends there that bought us lunch and helped us drink three bottles of wine!

day four - Natural hotsprings. This goes right to the top of my "coolest things I have seen or done" list. This boiling, and I mean actually physically boiling, water seeps out of the rocks right at the oceans edge. You hike down this steep hill, down a cliff and then at the bottom people have created these inlet pools where the hot water mixes with the saltwater = hotspring pools. The water can actually get so hot that it blisters your skin...in a tiny pool of just hotspring water one guy was hardboiling eggs. How rediculous and amazing is that? We hung out and soaked there all morning.

We met some really great people there AND ate some amazing cheap Italian food. Im pretty sure life doesnt get better then island life. Now were back in Naples for the night and EXHAUSTED! haha travelling and relaxing takes a lot out of you. Although Carolyn and I sat down today to do some calculations and figure we walk or hike at least 7k a day. No wonder my feet always hurt. Tomorrow we catch an early train tp Bari (on the other side of the boot) and then take an overnight ferry to Patras (Greece!) From there we have no idea what were doing...but assuming that we need to take a bus to Athens and then another ferry to Santorini. So after the next two days of solid travelling I believe I will be sending my next update from Greece! Although I havent even left Italy Im already sad about the idea. Its safe to say I fell in love with it. After some careful consideration I also may have to retract my previous statement about Italian men. During the past three days they have ALL met and exceeded the stereotype. In Naples watching an outdoor dance show a group if Italian POLICE officers put on the romeo charm with..."you have such beautiful feet, such beautiful eyelashes, I could get lost in your eyes and please be my american dream" etc etc complete with dramatic gestures. We were like "shouldnt you be doing your job of crowd control and not harassing young canadians?" It was all in good fun but I couldnt keep it together when one of them said "I could bathe in your beauty" I told him he was full of shit (which he didnt understand) until we re-phrased it as "you are a producer of shit". Hilarious! Although he didnt think so.

ok so Im off...Wish Carolyn and I luck in not strangling each other in the next 72 hours! Ciao for now!