Last night I decided to do something a little different, and spend an evening on San Nicola.

My friend Claudia and I took the boat from San Domino at 8pm, and were advised that since the wind was becoming stronger (we’ve had storms today) they would interrupt the hourly service at 11pm instead of 12am. There was a most spectacular moon, and in a couple of minutes we were on San Nicola.

In 25 years or so of holidays here, I never took the time to go to the other island for a different evening out – and boy have I missed out! The colours on San Nicola are breath-taking by day, but at night everything is wrapped in this golden stillness of the moonlit sea, and the Medieval fortress and abbey all lit up. There weren’t many people about, and it’s a real shame because the place deserves to be visited and populated. As we were walking up the bendy path to the town I was already regretting not having worn shoes with a greater grip in the sole, as the stones which make up the path are worn down to a flat, shiny, slippery surface. Heels are definitely a no-no!

As we reached the village centre we just had to take the customary photo from the panoramic window overlooking the port and San Domino: during the day that spot is a delight because there's always a breeze no matter how hot it is, and it's also a place in the shade where to take some beautiful photos of the other island. We then made our way up to the fortress, the Medieval walls towering above us, with an electric blue sky peeping out of the archways. Yesterday the moon was shining too bright, but when the night is moonless you can hear the cry of the diomedee from these spots, too.

We climbed up the stairs towards the abbey; the façade was all lit up. To think we are surrounded by buildings and monuments almost 1000 years old is just astounding. Everything was so quiet that we were almost startled when we heard sounds from a television, or a phone conversation coming out of a house.

Beyond the façade of the abbey things start to get more rugged and unkempt, with beautiful cloisters creating a stark contrast with the tumbling-down buildings - some of which, to our amazement, were inhabited, or at least we could see people playing cards outside underneath the colonnade, and feeble neon lights from inside doorways and windows. The area is so secluded, and the part of the island quite remote compared with the 'centre' below, that I only wished I could experience living in a place like that. Well, not the tumbling-down part, of course...

It was very windy and there was a bit of a nip in the air, so before reaching la Tagliata and therefore the second half of the island after the end of the village, we scrambled back down again, and ended the evening with a glass of rosé prosecco and a very substantial aperitivo in a place called La Torretta del Caicco - literally tower of the fortress, with spectacular views of San Domino. By the time we finished it was 10pm, and we caught the boat back - and got sprayed with the waves as we went! what a great way to end a perfect evening.

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