The Jewel in the Mediterranean - Procida Island

Turquoise seas surround an island filled with cottages of a hundred shades and hues. This is the gem of the Mediterranean. This is Procida. The island where the movie The Postman (Il Postino) was filmed

To get here (there's a map further down the page) you sail out across the gulf of Naples. Translucent seas seem to continue forever but then suddenly the ferry approaches the harbour.

Your first glimpse of the island takes in the colored houses and a little yellow church, parish to most of the fishermen who go out at sea every day. Inside wives quietly pray for their safe return.

At the top of the hill, a castle dominates the scene. Between the hill and the harbour is a lovely little hotel, the Hotel La Vigna (once the islands watchtower). If you've chosen well here will be where you're staying on the island.

Check into your room and joyfully open the shutters, you sense what awaits, suddenly you've let in paradise.

Vines surround the hotel and a mandarin tree seems to be bearing a thousand tiny suns while overhead the sky seems impossibly blue. Later enjoy a little walk through the garden - the wondrous Gulf of Naples lies before you, with Vesuvius soaring high above Naples in the distance.

Nearby Punta Campanella and Capri salute. Far below the waves splash onto the shore and high above the seagulls sail in the wind. Your heart soars but then sinks at the thought that sometime soon you must leave this paradise, the sense of pending lose is almost unbearable.

Procida is certainly one of the planet's most beautiful places. The enchanting, tempting, romantic harbour is a little world unto itself. The refuge of which everybody dreams, loved for centuries by authors, poets and artists. Pink, yellow, white, green and red predominate in this fishing village, situated like an amphitheater next to the sea.

The photos that follow were shared with us by Susanne Drewes, one of our friends from our Facebook community. Thank you Susanne for sharing the photos and your stories of Procida.

If you enjoy this taste of island life then please click like below and maybe leave a comment for Susanne or Steven at the bottom of the page.