The evolution of wonders inside the Aragonese Castle
The refrain shakes me, comes and goes, hovering in memory: «È del poeta il fin la meraviglia... // ... chi non sa far stupir, vada alla striglia!»
These are the famous verses by Giambattista Marino, the Great poet of baroque poetry. It has been four centuries, and its strength does not leave me for the disruptive contemporary, dressed up with a peppery vein that reveals a necessary, essential and raw truth. The “poet” of rhyme is the “artist” in itself, to put it bluntly. Why do I start with him? It is easy to say.
I returned days ago in the monumental area of the Aragonese Castle.
Philosophy, the island and the spa - Waiting for the festival in September
The island was scorched by the heat of August. Especially near post sundials between 13 and 16. Trying refreshment - the heat raged - I decided to dive into the water. I alternated, although it seemed inappropriate, a swim in the sea and a sauna, then give me a break in the pool.
Visiting wineries edition VIII
In a successful book of 2003 titled «Cunicoli e lapilli. Ischia, conigli e dintorni», I so explained some curious aspects of the island. Ischia – I wrote among other things – “is a land of Lilliput and lapilli, burrows, tunnels, holes, ditches, cellars, wine presses, niches, caves, caverns, caves, caves, cavities, hideouts, shelters, woods, shadows, channels , tanks, wells, moons, craters, shower heads, hollows, caves, thickets, ravines, gullies, veins, groundwater, springs, tuffs scratched, stone houses.
One more treasure
One of the places that fascinate me more in Ischia is definitely the Aragonese Castle. Although it is familiar, surprises me every time I look it, a different color of some its former building, a plant or a flower that I had not yet seen.
This year the biggest surprise that I found in the church of the eighteenth century are two fascinating Egyptian sarcophagi and a table for mummy coming from Brussels. This “out of place” has given me thoughts and emotions that led me to collect as many pieces as possible.
The dream at Mortella in a midsummer night
Take the work by William Shakespeare, perhaps the most important playwright of whom recurs this year the 400th anniversary after his death. Take La Mortella and its own private garden, designed by Russell Page, and created since 1956 by Susana Walton, the largest one in Italy and perhaps in Europe. Here plays “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in the mysterious charm of a place that at 21:00 of every Friday of July becomes the home of fairies, elves and goblins that wander through the narrow streets and whose shadows extend unhindered between fountains , ponds and a light sea breeze that floods the promontory of Zaro. Think of a particular tour operator like Platypus specialized in school camps, school trips and excursions, made up of young people from different skills and who has studied the way to bring in this Mediterranean and subtropical nursery, for the first time, the English poet’s masterpiece. Think, then, that after two years of trials and projects, today, with the theater company «Artù», in a unique and rewarding synergy, has been realized, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”.
The harvest of thought, clusters of philosophy among people
From September 24 to 27
I had not thought of anything in recent months in Ischia. The fresh air of September (its blame!) is famous for outbursts obvious, of evocative power, dictated by the first freshness after the heat of summer. In the air, you breathe fig leaves that inevitably after the first storms through their unmistakable scent, remembering the harvest, the barrels to narrow with the seawater, in Ischia Ponte, where they are placed, filled, touched, caressed. The streets meet small rivers of water mixed with Dionysian remains of soft and acres smells at the same time: it is harvest time!
Just this week, last year, was realized the idea of the Festival of Philosophy, my constant thought. “Philosophy, the Castle and the Tower”, a strong headline and seemingly irrelevant to the event but from a point of view purely tourist.
The oasis of Aphrodite, of beauty and well-being
The beauty of the places, the powers of the spa and health treatments, in high summer, reach their ideal in the Thermal Park Aphrodite-Apollon, on the southern coast of the island. A large garden featuring 12 pools of thermal water that comes from one of the most important and healthy basins, that one of the area-Sant’ Angelo in Maronti.
Festivals in August, funny millennial rites
The island of Ischia is a magical place, “en plein air for holidays”. Ready to welcome visitors and tourists of all kinds and nationalities with the desire to relax in what was the first Greek colony in the Mediterranean Sea.
The Epomeo from Bracconiere
I do not have family brothers, but Michele, the “Bracconiere”, is my brother. He taught me - after the immature death of his real and unforgettable elder brother Salvatore, a pilot of family and activity, as well so he’s younger than me - to look away, to look ahead, to look, if not the sky, at least in front.
Artisans, what passion!
Among the many treasures that Ischia keeps, there are some craftsmen who create their works with respect and passion and that is nice to go to find out.
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