Marina Grande and the alleys behind it

Marina Grande is where everyone lands, and it is the busier, more workaday face of Procida: a long line of tall narrow houses in yellow, salmon, green and white directly on the quay, with ferries, fishing boats and the island's few buses all using the same strip of tarmac.

It is a better location than its function suggests. The front is unbroken colour for several hundred metres, and shot from the mole or from the deck of an arriving boat it gives you the whole island's character in one horizontal band. Photographers who only do Corricella miss the fact that this is where Procida actually lives.

Behind the waterfront the lanes climb immediately: barrel arches, outside staircases, tiled steps, balconies with washing and lemon trees leaning over garden walls. These alleys are narrow enough to stay in shade for most of the day, which makes them the reliable option when the middle of the day is too bright for the harbours.

The quay is a working port, so buses and delivery vans use it and there is nothing decorative about the traffic. Early morning, before the first big ferry, is when it is calm; from mid-morning in summer the arrivals come every hour and the front is crowded.