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Published: August 28th 2012
Saturday 25 August 2012
(Lisa) We left Lipari on Friday after Gill and Samuel had done a monstrous 400 metres dingy ride first thing with no outboard, so it was pure Duncan oar power and then this was proceeded by a 2k run as they thought they were late for the dinghy engineer, only to find that we were running in Turkish time and it was actually one hour early! The two boys then treated themselves to a breakfast of grapes and water while they waited, although the shop keeper wanted to charge them 5 euros for a small bunch of grapes! We must work harder on our tan and Italian.
We then motored a short distance to the most magical island of Salina. After a few attempts to anchor as the water was quite shallow, we found a good holding and decided to chill, sleep, read before taking the dinghy ashore to explore the little island. Well what an amazing delight we all had when we stepped ashore. Unlike the other Aeolian Islands this island is lush and green with towering fir covered mountains that are surrounded by the clearest turquoise waters. So
the four of us all clean and presentable headed ashore (I even treated myself to wearing some wedges, although this was regretted very quickly as I realised that flip flops were much more me).
It was a very pretty small hamlet of winding narrow streets all centred around a small square which was brimming with Italians all just hanging out and doing what Italians do best “looking good” this was coupled with some delightful shops and little wine bars rattorias.
I then treated myself to a couple of glasses of local wine and Gill tried a local speciality Malvisa, which is like a sweet desert wine or sherry. It was nice but, not as nice as my very chilled white Salina Bianco. Then to Samuel’s delight the lovely waitress brought us some delicious nibbles of local ham and bruscetta, which actually became supper as we all just chilled there before coming back to the boat for a early night.
This morning (Saturday) we are heading to Stromboli so we can see an active volcano. Unlike Mount Etna or Santorini, this is one of the only volcanos that actually erupts on regular basis.
(Gill) Seldom
do you ask the kids to remember where they are during dinner. We are sat in the cockpit at the foot of Stromboli aboard as the boat drifts just offshore. 900 metres above us the volcano grows red and then spits out molten lava. This happens every 15 minutes or so. Photographs can’t do it justice unfortunately. High up above the crater other tourists have climbed the 6/7 hours to the peak and, wearing hard hats, sit at the highest point of the crater and look into it. We can see the flashes of their cameras from the ridges above.
We sailed from Salina, known as “the twins” from the two extinct volcanoes that rise from the sea. A few hours North East is Stromboli. The winds were light as we reached across. Lisa made spaghetti meatballs en route and we arrived off the North East of Stromboli as the sun was sinking. A beautiful dinner served below the volcano deserved a fine wine and this was the perfect opportunity to drink the bottle of white wine that has been chilling in the fridge since we left Santorini, itself an amazing volcano with the top blown off. We thought
Approaching Stromboli
Budgie smugglers from a safe distanceof Dad as we drank it as he’d hoped to have it with us. It tasted fabulous.
Littered around us the excursion boats have their navigation lights on and bob around in the sea that is far too deep for anyone to anchor. Stromboli rises from the seabed and several hundred metres off the shore it is several hundred metres deep. It feels like looking into something out of Jurassic Park. An amazing night.
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Stu McLaren
non-member comment
Re: Living the dream
Classic photo! Haha