McGann Juniors Join Us

We get very excited when Laura and Rory join us on our travels. 🙂 This summer they were able to come together for three weeks, unlike last summer when their schedules did not align. It was Laura’s turn to invite friends along, and we enjoyed getting to know them all. Rory was fresh off a quarter studying in Rome, so his Italian language skills were very handy. From the Aeolian Islands, we headed north towards the Amalfi coast to collect everyone. 

Laura and Joyce joined us first in Agropoli. If you know anything about the Italian train system, you know that it’s not unheard of for trains to run late. The girls nearly missed their connecting train, but made it without a second to spare and arrived after 10pm. There’s nothing like an introduction to boat life with a dinghy ride and luggage in the dark! While we were waiting for their arrival, we were enjoying drinks on a neighboring boat with another friendly American – Irish couple that we had just met. Small world!

Having been to Agropoli twice before, we searched out a new experience and found one by visiting Paestum, an Ancient Greek city a short train hop north. This site of ruins contains three of the most well-preserved Ancient Greek temples in the world, a Roman amphitheater and forum, as well as an archeological museum. It reminded us a lot of the Valley of Temples in Agrigento, Sicily, though it had many more remains of the actual city beyond just the temples. Well worth the visit.

We moved on to Salerno to collect Rory. At the last minute, Conor decided to book us into the marina, and we were all so grateful he did. Less than an hour after we arrived, the heavens opened up with a downpour and winds at least 30 knots strong. Unfortunately for Rory, his train arrival was timed just so. Nothing like joining a boat in the middle of such a storm. When the storm had passed, the kids enjoyed exploring the town, and then of course, we took them to our usual pizza place that has the best gluten free pizza we’ve discovered so far. 

Moving on, we were keen to cruise by and show the kids the Amalfi Coast. Unfortunately, the weather was not the best.

We arrived to the island of Ischia, where the weather improved. I still love this lush island. Laura and Joyce enjoyed exploring the town of Ischia with its fun shops and plentiful restaurants, while Conor and Rory were kind to accompany me to La Mortella, an extensive botanical garden that I had really wanted to see. We were all quite impressed. The gardens were designed in 1956 by a famous landscape architect, Russell Page, at the behest of Susana Walton. She was married to Sir William Walton, a famous English composer. They have certainly left a legacy on the island of Ischia.

Rory was interested in seeing the Aragonese Castle, so I visited again with him. Ischia is also where we had to say goodbye to Joyce. Her time with us was short, and she was a great sport having to venture back to the Rome airport via a ferry, then metro, then two trains! This was her very first time to Italy, and while our locations were not mainstream, we still hope she enjoyed a taste of Italy!

If you’d like to learn more about what we did and saw along the Amalfi Coast and in the Bay of Naples last year, you can read more in our former posts – How are we even here? and Adopting the Italian lifestyle?

Upon leaving Ischia, we finally ventured into some new territory – the Pontine Islands. We only visited a couple of them, but they were well worth it. The first stop was Ventotene, a small island with less than 700 residents. What is unique about the town and specifically the maritime aspect is its ancient Roman port that is literally carved out of the rock walls. It was a unique stay in this quaint spot!

We ventured next to Ponza, the largest of the Pontine Islands with a population around 3,000.  Ponza felt mostly filled with locals and Italian tourists. There are so many beautiful anchorages, beaches, coves, rock formations, etc. that you could easily spend a long relaxing vacation here. We only had two nights, but greatly enjoyed our sandy beach anchorage and a visit into town. 

We covered all this ground in about ten days. There was plenty of fun to be had in explorations, swimming, kayaking, great meals, relaxing aperitivi, some work, and many naps. Loved our family time too which inevitably involves a hilarious game of Fishbowl.

We finally set our sites and sails on Rome to collect a couple more of Laura’s friends. The second half coming soon…!