I've been thinking about it for a while. Even if it was my grandfather’s island and, by birth, also of my father, I visited Procida very little and always fleetingly, without ever having the time to walk it in peace, to get to know it better as it deserves.
Many times, during the classic stop on the route to Naples or Ischia, I was tempted to make an unscheduled visit, but the “I'll come soon” solver arrived on time to postpone the appointment again. Until, suddenly, the possibility of an all-procidan afternoon arrived, an invitation for Discover Campania from Marianna Polverino of Ischia Hiking, hosting a group of special travelers in Procida. Such an ideal situation: a perfect beginning of October from a climatic point of view, the opportunity to visit the island with an engaging and expert guide like Marianna and the pleasant prospect of making new encounters. In short, the best one can expect from a trip, even if only for a few hours and only a few miles of sea away from home.
And in fact in Procida, as soon as I landed in a crowd waiting to embark for Naples, my perspective was reversed. Starting with the landscape of Monte di Procida, which I see every day in the distance and that almost seems possibile to touch. And so the strong link between the two lands becomes very clear, a bond between the communities that not even the sea dividing them could break. The Procida community is strong, resistant, hardened over time by distances and comebacks. And the people looking out the windows, observing the movement on the port, are still setting the rhythm of life that continues as always, beyond the flows and outflows that ferries and hydrofoils are carrying in this year, before the large numbers expected from the 2022 Italian Capital of Culture.
I met Marianna right at the port so she had time to better explain who we were waiting for: not just any group of guests, however passionate, but three people of the seven of Va 'Sentiero, who have accomplished a real achievement, covering entirely, as probably never happened before, the now obsolete and misunderstood Cammino Italia, over seven thousand kilometers on foot following the mountain ridges marking, to the north, the borders of the Peninsula, and then following it for its entire length up to extreme southern tip and beyond, on the two largest islands.
An adventure of ancient flavors, but shared with modern means of communication, allowing the group to make known and appreciated every step of the long and tiring journey to a very wide audience, together with the places, the people, the particularities they encountered. . Walk, discover, share - is the motto of Va 'Sentiero, that evokes a very familiar approach to me, reminding the journey we are taking with Discover Campania.
The hydrofoil arrives from Naples and our three young friends are finally here. Funny, cordial, communicative, it takes only a moment to understand how they managed to get the attention of so many people along their path, those who from time to time have met where they have passed and those, more and more numerous, who have chosen to be with them for more or less long stretches of roads and paths, sometimes marked only on paper, now completely wild, and to be reopened.
Started in 2019 and completed halfway up to the Marches, before having to give up because of the pandemic, the complete itinerary of the Cammino Italia, which is the longest journey in the world, has recently ended and the guys are already looking for new challenges. They have a lot of ideas and to figure out which one will be next, they allowed themselves a short period of reflection, all together, between Ischia and Procida. They have also moved a lot in Campania, followed the Apennines, crossed parks and natural reserves of great value, with a digression, the only one compared to the Apennine ridge but strictly included in the Cammino (even if no one remembered it, before), on the Lattari Mountains, up to the meeting with the sea at Punta Campanella. Capri gave them other ideas and perhaps the desire to see the other islands of the archipelago, starting with Procida. Where they found attention from the councilor Lucia Mameli and where, as soon as they arrived, the councilor for Tourism Costagliola welcomed them and showed the initiatives and organizational complexity of the Capital of Culture project, already going well before the fateful year.
They are passionate and enthusiastic about what to consider a life commitment for them, but they are also very concrete and the councilor's questions were clear and precise. Like the curiosities along the way that we then enjoyed, walking through the streets and alleys towards the highest part of the island and taking advantage of the last hours of light to get there, after passing the magnificent square of Semmarezio with the church Santa Maria delle Grazie and the monument to Scialoja, at the viewpoint on the way up to the Castle. Where my perspective was turned upside down again, with the imposing heights of Ischia in the background and the wonder of the most celebrated inlet of Procida below us, framed on one side by the marvelous Corricella, truly worthy of its Greek name kora kalè, meaning place nice. From the even more magical top, for the architecture, the bright colors, the ancient "carusiello" roofs (according to the dialect) made of volcanic lapillus, between the vicinity of the other island beyond the sea.
"When we are walking at sunset, I always ask those who are with me to remain silent", was the invitation of Marianna in front of the majestic spectacle of that gigantic red-orange sphere that was about to disappear behind Ischia, leaving golden glows in the sky already dressed in the softness of the pink hour. Moments of absolute wonder, under the fortress that called us on the last stretch of the climb, before finding ourselves in the heart of Terra Murata, the oldest hamlet, full of charm and generous of beauty.
There is a view of the large structure of the castle, full of history and stories, that seem to come out of every single window to ask for attention and memory. And there is the landscape embracing the Campi Flegrei and the coast of the myth up to Capo Miseno and beyond, towards the unmistakable shape of Vesuvius and Punta Campanella, which Sara Furlanetto, Yuri Basilicò and Giacomo Riccobono, our friends from Va ' Sentiero, recognized immediately, at first glance.
Marianna was our guide, when the evening sky began to prevail, in the descent to Corricella, along bold stairways among the typical architecture of Procida and a few groups of neighbors, which gave us a sense of how much the community is very much alive, this far from tourist routes.
Corricella is a view from above, but also from within. One thing with houses, vines and sea, as it is in history, in tradition, we can also say in the DNA of the people of Procida. The tranquility of the early autumn evening accentuated the pleasantness of the meeting, with the background of the engine and the voices of the first fishing boat that had just sailed for the night out.
Time was short, boarding was near and the other three members of the group had already arrived in Ischia. A brisk walk through the streets of Procida, back to their usual dimension at the end of the day, before concluding the perfect afternoon and set sail for Ischia. For the friends of Va ’Sentiero, another corner of Italy to discover, starting from the port, which came to meet us with its warm lights to welcome them to the Green Island.
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