DOI Kapitel:
Chapter XI: Ischia
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.59000#0427
Ischia
forestieri are free to roam, with a delight in the contact
with nature which the peasant probably never knows.
The tragedy of a quarter of a century ago impover-
ished Ischia, but saved it from the innovating disfigure-
ments of modern life. Of what other spot round the
coast can it be more truly said that hardly a building in it
is ugly—that no appalling hotel stands as a kind of helio-
graph to fascinate all eyes ? Of Ischia this may be said
in all truth. The island is wholly and rarely beautiful-
a spot to tarry in with delight and to leave with regret.
Walks off the beaten tracks are not so easy to find
round Naples as might be imagined. In Capri you
must go up hill or down. At Sorrento the lack of
walks is proverbial. At Amalfi hundreds of steep
mountain steps must be faced before a walking level
can be found. But in Ischia not only is there the
ascent of Epomeo to be made, but also the poderes and
woods that clothe the sides of the great mountain are
exquisite haunts for the active pedestrian ; nor are they
difficult or fatiguing climbs that require a Teutonic get-
up of alpine hat and feather and heavy stick, as so
many simple walks in Capri seem to need ; rather they
are little country paths under the olive and oak trees
where no soul passes save the woodcutters shunting
felled boughs from ledge to ledge, or a woman singing
to herself and child as she runs lightly past with bare
feet. If we follow the vineyards up the mountain
slopes, caverns are seen cut deep into the rocks, cool
wine-cellars which were at one time in use in many
wine-growing parts of Italy, though the custom has
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forestieri are free to roam, with a delight in the contact
with nature which the peasant probably never knows.
The tragedy of a quarter of a century ago impover-
ished Ischia, but saved it from the innovating disfigure-
ments of modern life. Of what other spot round the
coast can it be more truly said that hardly a building in it
is ugly—that no appalling hotel stands as a kind of helio-
graph to fascinate all eyes ? Of Ischia this may be said
in all truth. The island is wholly and rarely beautiful-
a spot to tarry in with delight and to leave with regret.
Walks off the beaten tracks are not so easy to find
round Naples as might be imagined. In Capri you
must go up hill or down. At Sorrento the lack of
walks is proverbial. At Amalfi hundreds of steep
mountain steps must be faced before a walking level
can be found. But in Ischia not only is there the
ascent of Epomeo to be made, but also the poderes and
woods that clothe the sides of the great mountain are
exquisite haunts for the active pedestrian ; nor are they
difficult or fatiguing climbs that require a Teutonic get-
up of alpine hat and feather and heavy stick, as so
many simple walks in Capri seem to need ; rather they
are little country paths under the olive and oak trees
where no soul passes save the woodcutters shunting
felled boughs from ledge to ledge, or a woman singing
to herself and child as she runs lightly past with bare
feet. If we follow the vineyards up the mountain
slopes, caverns are seen cut deep into the rocks, cool
wine-cellars which were at one time in use in many
wine-growing parts of Italy, though the custom has
26 201