Wild and lovely in Ponza

This summer, after five years, I finally got the chance to visit Ponza. I spent 6 memorable days and nights there and although, when writing this post, I am already on another vacation, I still cannot get over Ponza. So here comes another post (4^th!!! read them here) about Ponza. An honest look on the island. 

I had organized the vacation carefuly already a few months before. I made sure I knew about everything going on. But reality turned out to be different. Firstly because I had forgotten I was dealing with a small italian summer resort where things change from year to year, therefore all my gold-worthy information kind of turned out to be words written in the sand. Most of the places (restaurants and beach bars) were either sadly empty or simply closed, forever. Secondly because Ponza is different. Ponza is not about planning and organizing, it is all about going with the flow.

Ponza is surely not for lazy people. To get the most out of it there is a lot of walking and climbing to do. The days we weren't riding a boat, we were climbing up and down some small stares craved in stone, exploring new ways to get back in the water.

In those few days (6 days for Ponza are nothing!) we had so much more to do in the sea that it turned out pointless to rent a car. Because of the incredible rocky W I K I nature the real breath-taking views were the ones that you could contemplate from the sea. Also as all the most beautiful spots to swim at are unaccessable by land, renting a boat at least for a day is a must.

Ponza is definitely not comparable to trendy Elba with its vibrant night scene or to fancy Capri, with all its comforts and glamour. Ponza is simple. And due to its remoteness, which I personally found extremely refreshing and terapeutic, it offers you the kind of experiences you won't find easily in other, extremely packed, italian summer resorts. Primitive and quite wild, Ponza gives you a unique sense of freedom. In the most romantical way.

Beaches

If you are a lover of fine soft sandy beaches Ponza is not for you. Although the crystal blue waters in Ponza are breath-takingly beautiful its coasts are mainly rocky. Rather than beaches Ponza is full of “places to swim at”.

The famous Frontone is the one that most resembles a classical beach. Supposedly, due to its bars, this beach is the place to be and be seen during the sunsets. I personally didn't make it as at the end of the day after all that swimming I was quite exhausted. 

Unaccessable by land, there is a comfortable boat taxi service (5 euros) which takes you from the main port to the Frontone in 10 minutes. This beach is the best option if you have kids but not that exciting if you seek for a little excitement. 

Our apartment was near to Cala Feola, where we found one small beach, with real sand!!, reachable by feet. The water was not as blue as in the rest of the island, but after our adventurous day, it seemed like a paradise! The beach is called La Marina. 

The best “places to swim at”

At Cala Feola we found several other amazing places for swimming like Le Piscine Naturali and La Caletta. Although as I already mentioned the best spots are accessable only by boat. Usually where other people are swimming it should be nice. Spiaggia del Cuore was lovely in my opinion!

   
Boat renting

You can get a boat from any port or beach. They're all the same but a bigger choice is available in the main port. The price for a small boat should be 50 euros, not more. They also charge you for the gas which should be around 30 euros. For that we drove until the Palmarola island and back.

If you haven't ride a boat before (like us) and you're not really secure about yourself I'd suggest you to stay around Ponza. Because the open sea inbetween Ponza and Palmarola island may be wavy even on a very calm day it might be a bit frightening.

As the sun illuminates the east coast waters in the morning its better to rent the boat from the port and then head towards North. By the time you will have reached the other side of the island, the sun will have moved with you. I would recommend you to ride at least until La Spiaggia di Lucia Rosa. From there in either directions it is the same distance back to the port. More South there is the famous Chiaia di Luna, some consider it to be the most beautiful spot of the island but due to the numerous yachts and boats the water is not always the cleanest. It is spectacular in the warm afternoon sunlight.

However if you are determined to visit the Palmarola island yourself it's better to rent the boat from the coast which faces Palmarola, in that way the ride back is easier and faster. You never know how the winds and waves might change by the end of the day. 

Boat excursion

All the boats which take you on excursion are pretty much the same looking. You can choose either a trip around Ponza or a trip to Palmarola or a combo of both islands. We went around the main port asking all different companies the prices and decided to opt for the cheapest one. We paid 15 euros per person for a Ponza-Palmarola combo. There is one company which also offers you food (simple seafood pasta) with cheap white wine. For that you pay 25 euros. Considering you will be out from 11 o'clock in the morning until 5 in the afternoon I would suggest you to bring your own lunch if you don't opt for the last one. There is a bar/restaurant, very poor looking and quite expensive, on the Palmarola island.

If you are planning to rent a boat yourself I would suggest to do the trip before. In this way you can spot all the nice places and come back to your favourite one yourself.

Unfortunately I didn't manage to put the pictures in order because of blogspot's new stupid posting system.. Farewell!

 

Useful links:

I Like Ponza

Vetor Aliscafi, ship from Anzio

Guide to some (inevitable) costs in Ponza:

100 euros weekly food budget

80 euros boat rent

40 euros a meal at any restaurant, excluding wine

20 euros for fresh fish, we bought 8 calamaris for a dinner for two

15 euros boat excursion around Ponza + Palmarola

5 euros boat taxi from port to Frontone beach

1.2 euros one way bus ticket

tutta l'arte e' politica altrimenti sarebbe semplicemente una decorazione.

To get to Ponza:

70 euros two way ship ticket to Ponza

7.2 euros train ticket to Anzio and back

I also didin't manage leave short comments under the photos, if any questions please leave in the comments.

 -At La Marina, the third place to swim or better, the first real beach  we found the first day, in the background you can see a restaurant on the rocks, worth going, they serve the freshest fish!! you find the number on one of the numbers at the end - the 4 pictures of a house are from the La Casa Victoria, the apartment we stayed at. The cheapest price and the best stay you can find in Ponza, just contact me for the number of the owner - the view from our terrace, lovely sunsets every day - panoramic view on La Marina - our boat - the crowdy Frontone beach - the calamari we bought and cooked ! delicous!! - number for the restaurant - the Chiaia di Luna -

  

For those who don't know, Ponza and Palmarola are summerhomes for the Fendi sisters. I spotted them both on the Palmarola island. You can spot the house on the right, in he middle of the green. Check out the post about Silvia Venturini Fendi's house here.

Huntin' some treasure in Rome!

Friday was probably one of the most exciting days of this summer. It all began a few days ago when I was contacted by one my mother's client who needed help in organizing a surprise for her husband. She invited me for an apéritif at Hotel Eden, a five-star hotel just next to Villa Borghese and five minutes from Via Veneto and Piazza di Spagna. The restaurant and the bar is on the roof, with a breath-taking view on Rome.

Now this is a Royal entrance!

This is only a 1/6 of the whole view!!!

This is how the aperitif looks like. Delicious! For some more click on Le Meridien Hotels's flickr photostreaming here. So, back to the business. Here's what it was all about. Every year she has prepared something special for his birthday and this year wasn't an exception. She had a clever yet a risky idea to make a treasure-hunt in Rome. Everything was already planned , the only problem (due to the language) was to convince the people to play along to the game. That's where I came in. Additionally she asked me to be one of the treasures! So this is how I found myself at four o'clock in the afternoon at the Bar Brasile in piazza Venezia, swiping some champagne and waiting for the birthday-boy to show up with his friends.

L'Altare della Patria - a monument to Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of unified Italy, on piazza Venezia. This was the view from the bar (below) where I had to wait. Not bad, huh?



This picture is taken from Google maps, thank God for Google!



Right after it I ran in Fontana di Trevi to leave a map in one of the oldest pharmacies in Rome called "Antica Farmacia Pesci"(click to see a picture of the interior). (This is the only public pharmacy which has conserved its original characteristics since Ancient Rome. The interiors are basically the same since 1552, the year in which it was established. The walls are probably covered by serpentinite, a type of green marble, and furniture in mahogany, I guess).



Anyways the phramacists were so excited to participate and couldn't wait to hear the four russian men pronounce a non-sense phrase - "I cavalli non sono animali pericolosi" (horses are unharmful animals) their joke of the year! Soon after my boyfriend walked me to my final spot - on Via Delle Quattro Fontane - to keep an eye on the "clue", which was sticked on the pale and to take care the boys head on in the right direction. I hid myself in the bar and Luca took care of everything. Their next stop was at Babington's Tea Room, just next to the Spanish Steps.



My final assignment was to make sure the chauffeur picked up the guys on time for a ride on a vintage car just before the dinner.




It' was fun, especially because I got to share it with my boyfriend. Soon it will be his birthday, I was thinking of doing something similar to him too (he won't read it because it's in english, no worries!). What has been the best surprise someone has ever organized for you on your birthday or for some other special occasion?!

This is why I love living in Rome

Yesterday is the reason why I love living here, let me share it with you:)
In the morning I went in the center of Rome to draw and sketch a little. For pranzo I met up with my friend Giulia and I spent my afternoon at her house. I was quite tired and ready to go home until I received a call from an unfamiliar number. It was Lina! (I met her last year at summer week, in Sardinia, and we clicked right away.) Although she visits Rome quite often (she actually lives in Cairo) we still haven't managed to meet up. That is until yesterday - an hour later from the call I was at the Spanish Steps meeting Lina who I haven't seen for a year, incredible! So we took a walk and did all the catch up and she later invited me with her family and friends on a drink. I was intentioned to go home in the beginning but as it was too late to catch the "last" train (remember I live outside Rome so I actually travel for an hour and a half, if I go by the public transport. I prefer not to do it alone late in the evening) I decided to stay at my grandparents house (they live in Garbatella, a nice zone just near the center). At 8.30 we went to meet her parents at de Russie hotel's cocktail lounge (it's just in the beginning of Via Babuino, near Piazza del Popolo) and soon her brother and other friends came a long.

The lounge, called "Le Jardin de Russie", is situated in the hotel's courtyard. It was originally designed by Giuseppe Valadier (1762-1839), the man who projected the whole area as we see it today - from the Coffee House on Pincio hill, also known as Casina Valadier, to la Piazza del Popolo one of the biggest and nicest squares in Rome. This lovely cortile is organized in different levels: on the ground level there is the cocktail bar where we stayed and on the upper level, where the actual Secret Garden is, is the restaurant. For me, who I usually am ready to critique the interior design of the places I go (because unfortunately modern, clever and functional design is not their best here), this place was a real surprise! As we are talking about Rome, a city of a very strong architectural image, you can't totally forget about it's roots when creating a new space or re-organizing one which already excisted. That's why I loved it there: no ultra-modern design inventions but just sticking to the original romantical atmosphere and bringing the maximum out of it by a wise use of drammatical illumination and green plants.

After a few drinks and some great laughs it was getting late for me as I still had to take the metro to get to Garbatella (using taxi is out of the question in Rome- they cost more than a decent meal in a good restaurant in the center) and so there I was, ready to say good-bye and thank everyone for a very pleasant stay. The moment I stood up protesting started and soon enough I was convinced to stay. My worries of how to get back home were wiped away as a friend of Lina's promised to take me home. That was one of those moments I deeply hated the fact of living far away from the city. Anyways, we continued our evening in a restaurant called Il Bolognese (it's just on the Piazza del Popolo), the food was good and the wine also.. We stayed out until 1 o'clock, Lina's friends went on clubbing and invited us too, but unfortunatelly I had promised my grandparents to be home early! This was the second time that evening I hated to not live in the centre of Rome, this time all by myself. It was a lovely evening, very spontaneous and unexpected and due to the fact I live in a city where people from all around the world (read my friends around the world) keep coming back, once they've fallen with it, I manage to see my friends more often, without having to travel myself (and unfortunately I can't do it so often because of my studies). Besides this big advantage Rome is a city full of surprises and it's really lovely to discover them with your friends !

Thank you Lina!;)