Island of Ischia & Poseidon Thermal Bath

We had previously visited Sorrento, Amalfi coast & Pompeii. Our sons went with Rome in limo to see these sites. We had planned to see Capri on our own, but then this ship excursion caught our eye. (I rarely do ship excursions anymore- people- too many, price- too much, safety- you're a target) but to go this far away from Naples....we thought we'd better stick with the cruise line. Our draw here was the Poseidon thermal gardens
(Click the link for a great resource about the whole island & great pictures of the gardens!)
 We began boarding a hydrofoil boat right off the pier. We made 1 stop at the island of Procida. We arrived to Ischia at about 1015 am.

                                                              Our hydrofoil- very smoothe

                You can do a beach on your own but I wouldn't recommend it- very small & rocky

 We had time to either go to a beach or get lunch. Knowing we were spending the afternoon in the Poseidon area , we had lunch.

                                                     Arugula, Parma & Parmesean

 Jim got fresh squeezed lemonade & ripped off by the taxi driver below....$3 so not worth it but clarify prices upfront.

            It's a geothermal, warm rocky area that grows pretty flowers because of the rich soil.

                                                  We meet Poseidon about 12:30

                                                 See the steam off of the waterfall? Hot!

 If you haven't opened the link to this , please do! Each pool had a different temperature.

            Jim went from a pool of 40C to 15C as it is supposed to force toxins from your body.

 Swim caps are mandatory. I forgot to bring my sandals so make sure you bring sandals or water shoes.

                                                         The view was amazing!

Noteworthy: we did not stop at Procida on the way back, faster ride but if planning a tip to Procida make sure that you check out how to get back to Naples!
We had dinner at Giovanni's table again- no one was feeling formal night after a long, hot day.

Our Final Day- Venice

We spent 1 final day in Venice. Our hotel was the "Boscolo Venezia" a partner of the Marriott chain. Maybe because we were the last to check in (Long day in the Dolomites), but we got a strange room. They said it was the honeymoon suite.....not sure. We took the elevator to the 2nd floor then had to carry our luggage up a flight of stairs. Inside was a room with thick beamed ceilings.It wasn't the 5 Star hotel we expected.

 Our window over the courtyard. It was warm in May. I can't imagine August.

 They had a nicer bathroom. I still can't understand the bidet.....

 We kept reminding ourselves it was an old hotel and Venice is old. I think we were just fatiguing from a long trip.

 The courtyard out back is very nice and wished we knew to request rooms here.

 The views were very nice in back.

 We had a great sunset.

The next morning we got up early to walk the streets and get breakfast. It felt like we had the place to ourselves. I strongly recommend that you see Venice this way.

 We had to cross 3 bridges to get to the main strip, but it was very easy.

 Now I am amused by McDonald's marketing and menu selection. I was scolded severely by the McDonald's clerk for taking pictures. I wanted to say "I am a share holder" but given her exaggerated sense of self I decided to just get an espresso and leave. So by all means take a look at this valued picture-(Yes I'm still annoyed).

 

 We walked to the Rialto bridge, which is normally very congested so you can see what I mean by going in the morning.

 It was much wider than I expected.

 Great views!

 We did have one stud posing for pictures.

 Isn't he gorgeous?

We had calzones near the hotel, but they weren't very good....and they were huge!

 Jim gave it his best shot!

We walked around the rest of the afternoon. We were scheduled for an 8pm ghost tour of Venice. At 630 we stopped at a place for dinner. By 7:30 they still had only brought bread and we realized we weren't going to make the tour. We should have just paid the bill and left because it was just so so. We usually aren't food snobs but struck out at every single meal that day. Does that look like a $90 meal? Oh well- maybe next time.

Overall we liked Venice's charm, just not the food. We feel like this gets a do over at some point but not at the end of a long journey. The next morning we got a water taxi at 4am (We prepaid for it but the hotel and water taxi driver got in an argument about it). He was angry and drove really fast, in the dark water, to the airport. We were glad to wait in the long line at the airport.