Gosh, Procida is a beauty. I step off the ferry at Marina Grande, onto this small but perfectly formed island with an area of just 1.6 square miles – making it the third largest of the four Phlegraean islands, located in the Bay of Naples. Standing in the sunshine, I take a minute or two just to savour the moment. It’s certainly good to be back, and wonderful to see that things are just how I left them with leatherskinned sailors sitting quietly mending nets and hopeful cats prowling for scraps. A reassuring sight in a world turned upside down in the past few years. I sit at a quayside café and order an espresso, which arrives with a lingua, a local pastry filled with lemon cream. I have time enough to linger here. With no major tourist sights to tick off, Procida is all about slow travel: the pleasure of connecting with local people and their culture in an unhurried, positive way. It came as no surprise to me that Procida was Italy’s City of Culture in 2022, the first island ever to win the accolade.
THE POSTMAN
I was smitten with the island long before I first visited – in fact, ever since I saw the 1994 film, which won a BAFTA for Best Film Not in the English Language, had been shot, such as the 17th-century fishing port of Corricella.
