Now look what you've done, bringing this topic back ttt ! I've just booked tickets to 'Otello' in Naples on 28th May :-)

MollyJones
Yes, this is one of the Ischia posts I mentioned to you on your other post. I did have a wonderful time there. Highlights included some of the above mentioned tips -- the botanical gardens, the wonderful hot springs bubbling out of the sea near Panza, the delicious local food (rabbit, pasta, pizza, vegetables, fish)and white wine, the friendly and relaxed people, and the Corpus Christi celebration -- complete with fireworks, flower-petal paintings in the streets and little girls decked out in angel costumes -- that was taking place at the end of May while we were there.

We took local buses, which were fine until they went on strike, and then we walked and took taxis. One day we were driven around by an elderly neighbor of our hotel-owners, in his equally elderly VW bus.

We stayed 4 nights and took one long daytrip back to Naples and then on the Circumvesuviana to Pompeii. Spent a fantastic afternoon there and then took the train and ferry back to Ishcia in time for a late dinner.

A wonderful island.

Now I've booked flights too !

A week each in Naples, Ischia & our scret hideaway on the Amalfi Coast :-)

ajadidealist : what are the 'hotel pets' you mention at the Casa Garibaldi, please ? I love cats but am not very keen on dogs. Thanks.

P.S. And can you tell me the approximate price for a double room, please ? Not on the website. Thanks again.

Annabelle2 - I found this thread but I haven't been able to find much else.

So tell me was clothing optional?

MJ

Well, at the amazing hot spring-in-the-sea at Panza, everyone was in swimsuits. Interesting mix of Italian families, Italian "contessas" as we nicknamed them -- lean, tan, bikini-clad women of a certain age -- and a few pre-season German tourists. Oh and we 3 North Americans.

You have to go to this place! It is down 200 steps, but when you get there, there is a small restaurant which will let you use their restrooms and changing rooms gratis (we did buy drinks there) and just a narrow rocky "beach" of sorts. Under a rock overhang an aging Italian hippie named Leonardo was giving massages and greenish-mud facials. I took a bottle of the hot spring mud home and it does make a great exfoliating facial mud!

You wade into the rocky cove and kind of plop down in the shallow water until you locate a hot-spot. The combination of hot hot mineral water and cool sea water is fabulous.

If you type Ischia in the search box, you should be able to bring up some other threads about Ischia...

I am definately going to go to Panza, it sounds devine. I found lots of other treads on Ischia which have been helpful, thank you to everyone. Before looking into Ischia more I was wondering if 3 nights was too long -- but now I don't think it's long enough.

Can anyone tell me what I can expect to find in Barno which is where my accommodation is based. I have seen a bus time table showing buses running often between the major towns.

Also would it be advisable to hire a bike to ride around the island or is that just crazy?? Too many hills and mad drivers?? We mountain bike ride fire trails here at home and thought it might be a nice way to see the island and burn of the night befores dinner :)

Plan to tag along with my husband on a business meeting he has on Ischia. I found some great info on this website, but as a woman I have one more big question: what kind of shopping is on Ischia? Is there a craft or art that is unique to the area? Since no one has really mentioned shopping, I am not setting my expectations very high. Any special activities on Ischia at the end of September?

We were there for a week in June so you may be interested in the Ischia portion of my trip report - http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34830452

I didn't do any shopping, though, other than buying lemon & orange flavoured biscuits to bring back to work, and some wine to drink while we were there.

I think the concerts at La Mortella are on until the end of September.

trvlcrzy: another thought - if it's designer clothes shops you are into, there are some in Capri Town; so you could do a day trip there.

hmmm, haven't seen this thread in a long time!

re: shopping. There were shops with ceramics, tiles, beach stuff, embroidery, but honestly I didn't do much shopping there.

The one thing I brought back was some of the "mud" (for facials) that comes from the hot springs...we actually just bought it in bottles at the rustic hot springs in Panza from this hippie guy, but I saw other products made with the Ischian spring water and mud in shops in Sant' Angelo (in nice packaging and more expensive). I still actually have a little "mud" left and I plaster it over my face and soak in the bath with a limoncello and dream of Italy...

and did you like the mud products?! a hot bath with a limoncello sounds great anytime!!
I definitely like checking out the ceramics from different areas of Italy, so if you have any specific recommendations I would love to hear them!

I liked the facial mud...at first I thought it was drying, but when I've used it my skin looks nice!

I didn't buy much in the way of ceramics (I love them but hate carrying them...I tend to buy unframed prints and glass jewelry in Italy) but my friend bought some lovely plates and tiles in Umbria (Deruta and Assisi) and in Ischia she bought a few small decorative tiles -- one was cute, it had the famous 'beware of dog' image from Pompeii on it.

She bought an extra bag in Ischia and loaded her breakables in it to carry on the return flight and checked her suitcase with the clothes that she was by then sick of anyway. Everything arrived home safely.

She had planned on buying a lot of ceramics around Deruta but the shipping was much more than she wanted to spend.