the Aeolian Islands!

LIPARI!

I do love those colorful vespas!

Ciao friends!!

I'm back in Palermo, having finished my 1st farm stay & heading to the east coast of Sicilia tomorrow.  My first farm experience was a success!  My host was very kind & while the weather kept us from being outdoors too much I did get a bunch of hanging out & reading in!  I, of course, in my American mentality was expecting to do tons of work all day every day.  Turns out it was more about eating a lot of yummy food & chilling out, Sicilian style.  When will I learn?

So, earlier in my Sicily visit I decided to take the hydrofoil out to the Aeolian islands.  I've been interested in Homer's "the Odyssey" for many years now.  Many events that take place in the story occur in & around Italy, Sicily in particular.  In the Aeolian islands Odysseus stops to visit Aeoleus, the wind god, who gives him his special wine skin of winds to push him along on his journey home to Penelope.  The islands are small & of volcanic origin, famous for capers & the sweet, Malvasia dessert wine.  Yum!

At the train station I met a guy who was moving to the island of Vulcano for the tourist season to make pizza!  I guess a good pizzaolo (pizza maker) is highly sought after & they can be well paid.  He said there wasn't much work in Palermo so he was leaving his wife & 3 kids behind for 7 months to go make pizza out on a small island that he had never been to before.  Whoa!  

inside the "hydrofoil"

views of the sea from lipari

going up the hill to the ancient castle

I find churches everywhere, even on the tiniest of islands!

an outdoor courtyard such as this with an arched walkway surrounding it is called a choistro, this one is ancient as can be!

Marina corta

this was interesting, the pumice mines of Porticello!

I took a bus to the "beach" at Porticello, I had seen some amazing photos of these beaches with interesting pumice stones & the water a light turquoise blue due to the pumice.  Turns out, during the winter much of the beach washes away or something & it is right next to this old pumice mine so, actually not so scenic.  I met a nice old man in this small town who used to work at the mine.  Apparently they have been closed for about 4 years and are now preserved as a historic site.  The old man gave me some homemade limoncello & a massive lemon.  They have these particular huge lemons here; the fruit portion is actually real small & the rind is very thick.  You are able to eat the thick rind & it is sweet & delicious.  Especially with a little salt.  Yum, I love it!

YUMMMMM!

the beach at Cannetto

Lipari is famous for it's obsidian mines.  The island used to be important for trade around the meditteranean & abroad.  Before iron, obsidian was the hardest, sharpest substance around; ideal as a cutting tool or arrow point.  Pumice also has many uses in the field of abrasives.  Interestingly, to me at least, when the obsidian gets hot it starts to foam up & then becomes pumice!  I collected many pumice stones, to use on the feet.  :)

Lipari was a really beautiful island!  Next you will see.............  a boat trip to the other islands!
xx