Vomitus Domitus

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Geo: 38.4674, 14.9539

One train and two ferries, making for a long day to get to Lipari - even worse, the hydrofoil from Messina to Lipari was a very rough ride, making it impossible to read, let alone sleep, as we were jostled about. Seasickness was also a big problem, with a number of passengers becoming ill enough to request the staff to provide plastic bags for their vomit. Luckily, neither of us got to that point, but who knows what may have happened had the ferry ride been longer than 2.5 hours ...

It was a pretty bad sight, but still not quite as bad as what you would see in Albanian furgons - I remember a particularly bad ride from Saranda to Vlora, up through the winding curves of the Llogara pass. One poor guy spent nearly the entire ride curled up in the fetal position, across three seats in the back of the furgon - lucky for him, it wasn't quite the busy tourist season yet, so there were spare seats to be had.

You gotta love how Albanians do it, as passengers grabbed plastic bags from the driver - shortly after the guy vomited, I felt another passenger tapping me on the top of the head. As I turned to see what he wanted, I felt something graze the top of my hair, and a moment later saw a plastic bag flying from the bus, landing in the gutter and splattering its contents all over the place. Luckily, the former contents of his stomach remained the contents of the bag as it whizzed over my head, so there was no vomit shower for me on that day. That wasn't the first time I saw bags of vomit flying out of Albanian furgons, and I'm quite glad I never got one in the face as I walked around.

But back to Lipari - despite the rough ride, we made it safely to port and felt much better after getting some fresh ocean air. It was a bit of a hike from the port to the B&B, but fortunately for us, it was through a breezy and shady pedestrian zone. Though Lipari is the biggest commercial and transport hub of the Aeolian Islands, we didn't expect it to be such a busy and happening little town, packed with bakeries, cafes, restaurants, and most importantly, gelato shops.

It's a town built for strolling, a beautiful little place, with a lively atmosphere seemingly on every street and in every cute little piazza, lovely architecture, and beautiful sea views. With Italy, the farther south you go, the better it gets - and we're loving it right now!

Gelato Selections Of the Day: For the first time this trip, we didn't overload on gelato, instead opting for a variation - gelato on a stick! A very good watermelon, that was perhaps a bit more sorbet than gelato.,

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Photos

Spiaggia Bianca ...
... in Canneto, a smaller town just outside of Lipari's main town. Not sure why it's called "White Beach", however, as the sand is pretty dark. Not the prettiest beach, but the water was refreshing and cobalt blue, something very characteristic of the Aeolian Islands.

Marina Corta ...
... where the tour boats depart from Lipari.

If Only ...
... I had considered booking at this little hotel, just steps away from the Scilla train station, but instead booked one a 25-30 minute hike away. To be able to do it all over again ...

Arancini ...
... one of my faves from the first time in Sicily, basically a deep-fried ball of risotto. This one was stuffed with cheese and ragu, a rich tomato-based meat sauce. Delicious, and a great quick little lunch before boarding the hydrofoil for Lipari.

A Luxury .,.
... having an apartment with a kitchen was nice, even though we didn't actually cook anything. The beauty of Italian cuisine is that you don't even need to cook to have an amazing meal - melon with prosciutto (though not as good as the plate we had in Scilla), a caprese salad with the most amazing tomatoes and mozzarella di bufala, some bresaola, fontina cheese, and an incredible little jar of pistachio pesto, which we slathered on slices of bread. The highlight was probably the caprese, because the tomatoes were so sweet and flavourful, and because when we asked the lady at the fruit stand if she had any basil, she simply tore off several leaves from her basil plant and tossed them in our bag. Doesn't get any fresher than that! The bottle of Dissan from Macedonia turned out to be a nice pairing, though it ended up being a light meal to go with a fairly intense red.

Popsicle Envy ...
... though the anguria (watermelon) was excellent, light and refreshing, we couldn't help but wish our popsicle was as big as the one in the poster ... sigh ...