We — the boat and myself — are on anchor in Procida.  Nearly the same place as usual… 

The last few days — have been spent on learning the boat  ( watermarker,  Part ‘One more’ ;-) ) and maintenance — gymnastic exercises on bending myself and putting / squeezing into the rear locker, near the transom… ( Somehow, I managed — but looking backward — that was against the physics and logic! ) ;-)  I’m glad it is over, and  I hope — there would be some rest before the boat throw something else into me… 

One of the friend wrote to me — ‘ Seems, you like Procida ‘.   He is right, I do.  

I really enjoying this place — with its  clean water, with a bit of sand, coral reef,  view on the shore and on the Sea…  On a clean day, with good visibility, you may see the Capri — touristic  Mecca ( Mekkah ) of the area around…, Sorento — with its cliffs, and interesting place to visit… Vesuvius… Most of the places have been modified by tourists and development… 

Procida — is different…  Yes, there are tourists… But my understanding — they are mostly Italians, who arrived from the different regions to take  some time near the Sea,  may be to avoid big cities… 

Of course, there are restaurants, which take advantage of the season…  

But in Procida, tourism seems does not become the mainstream revenue as in other places… 

My strange feeling — the Time is taking a special care about the Procida, in a different way then the areas around… 

I like to watch how the island is waking up in the morning…  

Before the Sun raises on top of the castle,  one would see the flotilla of fishermen boats leaving the harbour… Relatively small —may be max to 5 meters long,  solid seaworthy rowing boats… all build to the  similar design,  with oars, attached by the  lines  — for simplicity… Those boats probably were built like that — by centuries… Yes, the time make an addition — majority of the boats has 2.5 hp motor attached…  But those are really — auxiliary devices… since most of the fishermen though are getting into the age, are still operating with oars with amazing force and precision… 

The Sun appears above the Castle… 

The old clock on the Churh wakes up…  From now on — it will signal the hours with proper amount double clicks, and then — each quoter with single…   The precision — was probably great, when the clock were built and put on the tour…  For today — it is not so great…  Between all clocks on all churches… you would be definitely notified about each quoter…   But the clock precision — is not important there… Probably that is why the hands on the clock are not repaired,  one is missing… and  all clock faces are showing the different time, the same all the times … since they forget how to move the hands.. 

But all that — is not about the time. Who does not have watches these days ?!  It is about the Time, about tradition… Those clock were doing that for centuries,  and probably will do more… 

Shortly, the churches will play invitation for the morning service,  and the day would officially started… 

Before that — the fishermen start to return.  

First — small boats…  They are definitely fishing not for commercial reasons… Not a sportive fishing either…  My guess — they are doing it for tradition… just because how else the day may start ?!    

Then a little bit bigger boats appears…  Those have the simple nets, and they hame been going a bit further… 

And finally,  the big — 30-45 footer trawlers, equipped with all nets and gadgets started to return… Those have left  shortly before or after sun set the day before… returning in the morning… clean the boat, remove the fish from the boats… and in the evening — would go back to the Sea… Practically, every day… 

What they are doing with all that fish ?!   I have no idea… But for centuries, Procida has been known as the source for strong, knowledgeable sailors and marines… And it is still growing and providing those people… 

The square in front of the church…  Every morning and every evening, people are coming here to exchange and to discuss the news… It seems like they all knew each other… I guess — it is another tradition, kept by the Time…  The time made alteration —majority of the people, regardless of the age, have cell phones or tablets… They use them — to prove their points…. 

But how you can start your day without  discussion of the latest news ?   Without reaching consensus  or ‘unresolvable disagreement ‘ ? 

And probably, the turbulent and rollercoaster political life of Italy — is taking its roots from those small squares…  ( I remember a couple of days of very active discussions… and a few days later — learned from the news that the Prime minister resign… Is there connection ? We are in Italy, the cradle of democracy… )

The day can not start without the coffee…. You can get it nearly everywhere…  

Between all the islands, and between all places I’ve notice one similarity…  You should know what to order… 

Order something like ‘coffee Americano’ ,  or cappuccino after ~1030 in the morning… 

Italians are sensitive to the coffee, and they have a great sense of humour…  Your service would be a bit longer then needed… and your drink would have certain traces of coffee… good caricature on most chains in the North America… McDonalds, Starbucks, etc… 

You have to order coffee or espresso… ( In most Italy — it is the same… ).   Your service would be quick. On Proicida — most places provide some bakery on a house…  The waiter would be glad to hear our opinion on the coffee,  and your rating would go up a tiny bit… 

The day is going on… 

So can I by describing the festivals, celebrations with real cannon rounds and fireworks after…  But it would be too long of the message… 

 

In short,  I like Procida.  Because here, walking over the narrow streets,  you get the feeling you are in classical, traditional Italy.  And somehow — they managed to keep it that way being just 8 nm from the cosmopolitan  Napoli.

That is all for now.  I’m planning to be there for a while,  before making decision where to go next. 

Everything is fine on board. 

Talk to you soon, 

M.