[July 2024] While spending our summer holiday on the island of Ischia in southern Italy, we took a day trip to the nearby island of Procida.
On the main street of Forio where we were staying, there was a booth selling tours to Procida, so we negotiated there.
At first, we booked a tour including the sightseeing tour Procida for €100, but later, the tour of the island was cancelled.
It seemed that there were not enough people.
We had no choice but to arrange a round trip ticket to the port of Forio and Procida + breakfast (€38 per person).
Meeting time on the day was at 8:30am.
We were supposed to be taken to the port by taxi, but what showed up was a full and rundown bus.
There seemed to be a mix of people from various tours, and only eight people got off at Casamicciola, the port for Procida.
Despite arriving early, the departure time was 9:45.
The ride on the hydrofoil took about 30 minutes.
And we arrived at the colourful port.
I had wanted to come to Procida ever since I read an article by a blogger.
The joy of finally being there was fleeting, because we couldn’t linger.
First, we had to eat the breakfast included in this tour.
When we went to the designated shop, we were told to go to another shop.
I had a bad feeling about this.
As expected, what was served there was a croissant-like bread cut in half and filled with cream.
In other words, each person got half a piece.
On top of that, we had to pay an additional €0.50 per person for cappuccino.
Two Roman ladies who came on the same tour were also shocked by this “half”.
If there was one person, would they have gotten a whole one?
If there were three, would they have gotten three equal shares?
Furthermore, when the island tour was cancelled in Folio, the lady in charge said, “But there are a lot of touts at the port offering tours for €50,” but there was no one like that.
So my husband asked taxi drivers who was hanging around, but they insisted the tour would be €80, so he backed down.
It’s hard to understand how they would just hang out without a job, and not even negotiate the price.
Are they just lazy people who don’t want to work?
As we were talking about this and walking along the port, a taxi driver in blue clothes chased after us, and after some negotiation, he agreed to take us for €50.
But he said, “Please wait a little further ahead.”
Due to his relationships with his peers, it seemed a bad idea to give us a ride in front of them.
At least our driver, Carlo, wanted to do his job and seemed like a nice guy.
Things seemed to have improved for our Procida excursion.
