I love Italy. My husband is an Italian citizen. I have been to Italy many, many times. However, Ischia was never on my radar until we planned a last minute trip this Summer and were looking for a sunny spot without too many American tourists. I landed on Ischia, not knowing much about it and thinking that it even may be “too Italian” (i.e. no fast internet or English) for a short stay. We decided to give it a go and spent a lovely five days in Ischia.
Beautiful Ischia Porto.
Ischia, one of the most popular islands in the world this summer (2022), is well known for its thermal spa parks. And what is a thermal park you may ask? It’s basically a waterpark for adults – an outdoor park filled with pools of varying heat, some with special mineral properties, others with special massage water features, and others just for fun. Thermal parks abound on Ischia. Even our little hotel had a small thermal bath for guests. Indeed, no official visit to Ischia is complete without a visit to a thermal spa. On Dan and my recent trip to Ischia, we spent a day at Negombo Spa, which is rumored to be the nicest thermal park on the island. This is my review of our day there, including everything you need to know to visit a thermal park in Ischia!
Negombo. It’s a big park!
On our recent trip to Corfu Town, Greece, Dan and I had an amazing dinner at Salto Wine Bistro & Bar. This is my review of our amazing dinner.
You probably know that Dan and I love a food tour, and of course we took one in Corfu Town, Greece this summer. This article details the tour and the delicious things that we ate. Unlike some of our other food tours, this was a food and historical tour, so food tastings were interspersed with a Corfu history lesson and stops at some important sites, such as Saint Spyridon Church and the Venetian Well. Here is Dan and me before the food portion got started!
Dan and me in front of the Old Fortress in Corfu.
After seeing some beautiful sites and learning some history about Corfu Town (which I don’t go into here, suffice it to say it was the main highlights!), we stopped for our first tasting, a huge greek breakfast in Corfu Town’s old town. We first tasted cheese pies and spinach and cheese pies, which are basically the named ingredients wrapped in fragile phyllo dough. These are easy enough to find in Corfu and Greece generally, but these were really good. We also ate the sweet version, topped with powdered sugar. Next up were two new things for me, small spoons of tahini butter and chocolate tahini butter. According to our guide, Greeks use this similarly to how we use peanut butter and Nutella. I really liked the tahini butter and could definitely eat it on a regular basis (and should have brought some home!). We then moved on to the “delights,” or desserts. Baklava and a chocolate square were on offer as was traditional Greek yogurt topped with a fruit marmalade. Our meal was served with Ginger Beer, which is a type of soda popular in Corfu since 1950(!). To be clear, it does not contain alcohol and you can find it pretty easily around Corfu Town. What a breakfast! If you are in Corfu, you can probably find most of these things on the breakfast table, but not all together!
Our breakfast spread!
After our lovely visit to Newark’s Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse in February, I was totally excited to visit Virgin’s Clubhouse at the Johannesburg, South Africa International Airport. In fact, it was the only thing getting me through the depression of going home, LOL.
Happy in Cape Town, South Africa the day before departure.
Despite a number of lounge options in Johannesburg’s international terminal between Priority Pass and our American Express Plaitnum card, we heard that the Virgin Clubhouse was the nicest and went promptly there (after a little shopping in the Out of Africa shop!). The Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse is located on the second floor of the international terminal, just a bit further down from the aforementioned Out of Africa store. We took the elevator up. Checkin was quick and consisted of presenting an American Express Platinum card and boarding passes. I particularly loved the flower wall at the entrance.
Entrance to the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse, Johannesburg from inside the club.
Said flower wall! Small, but mighty cute!
