A prize in the prize

A prestigious winner of the International Prize for Journalism tells us of his love for <%=ischia%>.

My envy knows no bounds of those who will be in wonderful <%=ischia%> this year - or any year, for that matter - for the International Ischitan Prize of Journalism. The setting itself, of course, is incomparable. This small island certainly is a jewel that glistens with a shimmering intensity known by few other places on the planet. Its secret is in its many facets, each, upon discovery, seemingly more brilliant than those whose discovery has gone, breathlessly, before.
Porto, the most frequent harbor of entry, immediately captures the imagination with that great medieval castle dominating the waterfront, commanding one's sense of history. And then the climb into the hills and the bath of perfume from the flower gardens and the nearly pristine pine-clad hills. Then, there, around that narrow bend in the road, one is rendered breathless by the first view of the <%=ischia%> coast - a dramatic spectacle of forbidding cliffs and welcoming beaches and tiny harbors with their lighthouses posing for camera and artist. There must be stops, of course, for refreshment in the typical inns and, perhaps, even a dip into the sea.
Later the thermal baths for which the island is famous - they are said to cure practically everything including diseases which haven't even been discovered yet - and the drive toward the top of towering Mount Epomeo, past the dry zones pocked by volcanic eruptions of long ago but decorated now by the vines that produce <%=ischia%>'s uniquely dry and aromatic wine. For the lucky recipient of an <%=ischia%> Prize for Journalism, the surroundings for the impressive ceremony could not be more glorious.