Dispatch from Ischia

I love this island—it’s a world away, but only a 50-minute ferry from Naples and completely down to earth and unfussy; nothing like its better known sister, Capri. I first visited in the early ‘90s, then returned when the Mezzatorre reopened in 2019, under the brilliant eye of my dear friend and Pellicano creative director, Marie-Louise Scio. Its opening brought a more elevated option to this wild, green island, where one of the coolest natural features is the 100-plus natural thermal springs that have made it a wellness destination since ancient Roman times. Each of the springs has different properties—I went to Nitrodi because it’s great for the skin, but others are known for healing chronic ailments like rheumatism, and still others are known for their mud, like at Mezzatorre.

And it’s serious business: you don’t just sign up for a mud treatment like you would at a spa in Calistoga—you see a medical doctor, have your vitals taken, then receive a prescription: the temperature of the mud, the duration, the specific spring. This goes back centuries. Long before Ischia became a holiday destination, patients came for a cure, which explains the proliferation of 1- and 2-star hotels around the island. People were coming to be healed.