[July 2024] Ischia, an island in southern Italy, is actually a hot spring resort.
Apparently, there are at least 103 hot springs.
It is a volcanic island, as it is said that in the 14th century, Mount Epomeo in the middle of the island erupted and the Aragonese Castle flourished.
So, although there are many hot spring facilities, we decided to go to “Poseidon”, the largest and most reputable of them.
It was the spring of the previous year in the Aosta Valley in north-western Italy that I learned how to spend time at a hot spring facility during our holidays, which is a slightly luxurious way of enjoying time.
It was surprisingly fun, so this time we decided to spend almost the whole day at “Poseidon” without hesitation.
When we went there, we found a well-maintained garden spreading out over a vast area facing the beach, with pools of different temperatures scattered throughout it.
€43 per person for a whole day here seemed reasonable.
When we arrived at around 10am, there were still few people around.
We hadn’t had breakfast yet, so my husband and I shared a croissant at a cafe near the entrance.
The croissants in this area are huge.
Then, in the building with the indoor pool, we rented a towel (€5) and a changing room (€10), and bought a swimming cap.
By the way, when we returned the towels and the key to the changing room later, they gave us half the money back.
It’s a rule to wear a cap when entering the pool.
The pamphlet we were given said, “First, relax your body in the seawater,” so we did as we were told and entered the seawater pool.
However, the weather forecast for that day was not good, and the clouds were starting to look ominous, so we went back indoors immediately.
It started to rain, and people started to come inside one after another.
The empty deck chairs were filled up.
Inside, there was a 30 degree pool, a 32 degree waterfall, a 40 degree bath, and a 15 degree puddle.
It said not to stay in the 40 degree bath for long, and after 3 minutes, move to the 15 degree bath.
However, I was used to Japanese hot springs, so the 40 degree bath felt good, and I lost track of time and stayed there for a long time.
I ended up getting a little dizzy from the hot bath, though.
During this holiday, I had a leg injury and was suffering from pain, so my husband booked me for a massage at the facility, thinking it might help.
It was called a Muscle Relaxing Massage, and it cost €45 for 25 minutes.
The therapist poured some warm oil on my body and gently massaged it.
My husband had explained the condition of my leg to her in advance, but she mostly ignored and only massaged my stomach and back.
I don’t really like massages (I had bad experiences in Taiwan and Korea), and this time, I thought that they were not effective after all.
By the way, the bad weather on this day was worse than expected, and there was a thunderstorm before I got in the massage.
The rain was blowing in through the glass windows, but it stopped after the massage, so we tried out some of the outdoor baths.
However, the baths were located in a garden on the slope of a hill, so we had to go up and down the stairs, which was a bit difficult for me that day.
So it was a shame that we couldn’t try all of them.
Also, since it was after a storm, we couldn’t go to the beach.
It takes a lot of energy to go around the baths.
My goal was to relax, but I ended up leaving the facility quite tired.
