So far food wise the staple mains of pasta, pizza and a bounty of fish at a sublime level didn’t disappoint. Having pizza in Naples from wood burning ovens where the temperature of 475 deg C produces the standard fare of unbelievable crustful delight with tomato and mozzarella on the surface. All cooked in under a minute from raw – amazingly so. It was quite a show to watch these guys in action. The days that followed came with octopus, anchovies, swordfish, prawns, and even lobster – all fresh and caught on the day. These were the selection of seafood goodies we put happily away in our tums in wild and downtime Naples.
Now it was onto Procida with the Voitglander Bessa. The small and beautiful island of Procida is world famous for it’s annual Easter procession. But first how to get there from Naples on time, as the parade would start off at 10 am in the morning. It would take some planning and very early morning. We rose at 5 am and headed into the darkness to the marina. Having stood at the port for 40 minutes, not a soul came. Only the cafe was preparing to open at 6 am. Questioning ourselves had we arrived at the right location, there was no one here! No one waiting for the first ferry. This perplexed us completely. Realizing our patience and rising so early could well be a total waste – what a blow out! Then finally someone arrived. We were told the ferry was at the other end of the port, about a kilometre away and we had seven minutes to catch it! We ran, in hope. Over barriers and through empty car parks, a taxi driver directed us towards the ship. But our reservation slips weren’t tickets! We had to collect them! The building ahead seemed the right place to be. Pushing the glass doors and down the hallway to get tickets in a mad panic! We had tickets, we were ready. Embarking onto the small ferry to Procida, our adventure had begun.
While on the island of course of Procida, we again ate. This time at the famous Il Postino named after the film of the same name. There we met other islanders from the neighbouring island of Isola. So we knew straight away we were at the right place to eat. Many of the locals if not all of them participated in the three hour traditional Easter procession which included endless floats of biblical scenes, images, traditional dress and even one with freshly caught fish!! Some of floats required more than 20 men to carry them by way of metal poles beneath. Such were the length of these extraordinary parade pieces, they often presented a logistical nightmare in turn in the narrow streets of Procida. The crowd simple had to retreat backwards or hop up on to pavement or ledge to allow the float to turn and continue it’s root.
