Torre Del Greco, Bay of Naples

Friday, 10^th June, 2011.

We left the island of Ischia and crossed to the next island in the chain, Procida.  It is small with multi coloured houses tightly packed together around the harbour.  The boat houses on the quay have been enlarged, terraces, pretty arches and decorations have been added to make it quite a pretty place to pull into. Small ferry boats from Naples pull in with day trippers.

The big castle and remains of the Abbey of San Michele date back to 1026 although they have been rebuilt several times.  We walked as far as the Abbey and the view point across the island and into the Bay of Naples looking across to Capri.

After lunch we left Procida and motor sailed across to the main land and headed for the town of Torre Del Greco which we were advised was a lot cheaper than Naples where there are no spaces anyway, but still convenient for visiting Naples, Vesuvius and Pompeii.  85 Euros a night for no shower or toilet facilities and electricity which would only last 5 minutes  at the most on the whole pontoon.  It was not a bargain but good for the visits to our planned destinations.

We did venture to the yacht club across the other side of town which had a marvellous view of the whole harbour.  There was security on the door but a top class building with a terrace to sit and watch the evening sun and a top floor which was being used for a function.   Torre Del Greco has a reputation of being a place to lock everything up on the boat but the pontoon we were on had two boys who seem to have their eyes everywhere checking all the time on what was going on. Therefore, we did have a sense of security leaving Ariel while we explored.