The movie set

Procida, Italy

One of the things we enjoy most about Italy is the architecture. At first glance, towns often look like drab, unappealing boxes but at sunset, the dull and dreary come to life creating beautiful pastel paintings. But the island of Procida was a surprise. Its architecture is alive all the time with a wild, almost cartoon-like feel.

You can’t help but smile when you see the waterfronts. And that’s exactly what we did when we pulled Berkeley East into Cala di Corricella and we saw a cliff of brightly painted fishermen’s houses, built on, and into, the rock in a pretty bulging, vertical jumble. We hadn’t seen anything else like it before.

The entire island of Procida has a picturesque shabby charm about it that has been featured in more than 30 films, including the Italian classic “Il Postino” and “The Talented Mr. Ripley.”

Located off the coast of Naples, Procida is the smallest island in the Campanian Archipelago, with 10,000 residents squeezed into less than two square miles. We spent time exploring the island, but we were always happy to return to Berkeley East, as the islands interior paled in comparison to the view we had from BE.