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| Pizza Making on Lipari Island |
It was a short cruise from the port of Naples to Lipari,
Italy, one of the seven Aeolian Islands off the cost of Sicily. During the night we passed Stromboli, one of
the other seven islands, famous for its constantly erupting volcano. Back in 2008 we had cruised around that
island and saw a hint of eruption, but because we were passing it in the wee
hours of the morning, neither of us opted to get up for the sail-by.
I was a little concerned about the excursion we were doing
today, called Lipari Island Drive and
Pizza, but I was assured that once we arrived at the bus, we’d be fine –
there would be very little walking. We
had been advised to take the wheelchair as it was an 800-yard walk to get to
the bus once we got off the tender, but Shore Excursions hadn’t been told that
a good portion was uphill in the heart of the business district of the busy
village over very uneven surfaces (at least uneven enough to chance riding in
the wheelchair) or that another portion was along sidewalks far too narrow for
wheelchairs. Had I known, I would most
likely have skipped this excursion. By
the time we finally got to the bus, I had walked about 700 of the 800 yards and
was pretty wiped out. Chuck was stuck
pushing the wheelchair along through the narrow streets over bumpy surfaces!
Once we did finally get to the bus, though, the tour was
great, and the scenery was absolutely beautiful!
Lipari is the largest of the seven Aeolian islands, all of
which are volcanic. Formed by 12 extinct volcanoes (the last eruption was about
700 years ago), Lipari has about 9000 inhabitants. The islands are named for Aeolis, god of the
winds and are referenced in The Odyssey. Because of the volcanic content, the island
is covered with pumice and obsidian. One
of the main industries at one time was the mining of pumice. Many inhabitants worked in pumice
factories. When the island became a
UNESCO World Heritage site, the pumice factories closed, and now all one can
see the remnants of the factories as well as the vacant mines. Today most of Lipari’s industry comes from
tourism and fishing, sardines and tuna being the most important, with squid and
octopus being among the other major catches.
Towering over the port town of Marina Corta is the castle,
what’s left of an earlier age of protection.
The castle is now mostly walls – a shell of its once predominant
position.
We wove through the cobblestone streets trying to keep up
with our guide and wishing we could stop for photos of the many picturesque
scenes that popped up at every twist in the road, but we didn’t dare for fear
of being left behind or holding up the entire tour. Small shops and restaurants dotted the walk,
with about the narrowest side streets that one could imagine.
Once on the bus, we began to wend our way through the rugged
landscape and switchback roads of the island.
Houses were nestled in the strangest corners – places one would never
imagine it possible for somebody to live, let alone build a house! As often as not we were looking out of the
bus over rooftops on one side and small front patios on the other.
We made a total of four stops. The first was a brief stop to take photos of
an abandoned pumice quarry. We were just as fascinated by the two ladies across
the street from the bus that were picking what looked like yellow daisies. Our guide told us that this was in
preparation for the upcoming recognition of Good Friday/Easter. The flowers would most likely adorn an altar.
Then we enjoyed a stop at a scenic overlook toward Salina,
another Aeolian Island. We looked
through the gates of a villa that was advertised for rent during the summer
months for “a mere” 2,500 Euros (about $3,400) a week. It offered a lovely view, but it was just a
little too isolated a location for me! A
few people had wares for sale there, including pumice and obsidian. I’ve always liked obsidian, ever since
studying about it in Earth Science in my freshman year of high school. The shell-like fracture lines that appear on
the stone creating very sharp edges and the sheer black quality of the stone
make it very easy to identify, and I’ve always thought it was pretty. So I broke down and bought a piece of
obsidian “in the rough”, being sure to select one that had the features that so
fascinated me. I also bought an obsidian
necklace that I wore dinner that night. The cuts in the black stones catch the
light and make it sparkle. I enjoyed
those purchases as much as the panoramic views.
The next stop was at a restaurant in the tiny hamlet of
Pianoconte, where we had a pizza-making demonstration, complete with the hand
tossed dough, and had the opportunity to create our own pizzas. This consisted of choosing the toppings from
a variety of many different toppings available.
Chuck loaded his with all sorts of “stuff”. I opted for a Margarita pizza – though there
was no basil available, an ingredient that is necessary for it to be an
“authentic” Margarita pizza. Apparently
basil is not in season right now. (Margarita pizza originated in Naples. It was
named for the queen, and its standard features are the red tomato sauce, the
white cheese, and the green basil, representing the colors of the Italian
flag.) Everyone agreed their pizzas were
delicious, and the crust was really yummy!
With only three people being able to make pizzas at a time, it took
quite awhile for everyone to be served so we were there for quite awhile. That was fine; we enjoyed visiting with the
others at our table.
Our final stop was another scenic viewpoint. From there we were able to see a snow-capped
Mt. Etna as well as another of the seven islands: Vulcano. It is from this volcanic island that we get
the word volcano. It seemed quite a propos to be able to
see fumaroles effervescing from the surface of Vulcano! Closer to the Lipari
coast were four rocks sticking into the air.
One was named the pope’s rock as it really did look like the miter that
a pope wears!
A short drive brought us back to town, where we left the bus
to walk back down to the tender area.
Once again we had to keep the people from our tour in sight as we got
farther and farther behind. But at this
point we at least took the opportunity to stop and snap a few pictures,
figuring that we could always find our way back to the port. The walk down was much easier than the walk
up.
I would have enjoyed poking around in a few shops, but by
that time I was pretty tired out. Chuck
delivered me to the tender and went back into town. I wasn’t concerned about getting back to the
ship – the crew is wonderful about getting the wheelchair onto the tender and
then off the tender and up the stairs. I
was glad because at least Chuck had the opportunity to spend a few
wheelchair-free moments!
Chuck in particular was quite disappointed to hear the
captain’s announcement about the upcoming port of Syracusa, Sicily. We were to tender ashore in Syracusa, a
lovely Sicilian city that we visited on a shore excursion in 2008. We thoroughly enjoyed visiting it then, and
Chuck, being a graduate of Syracuse University, was looking forward to a chance
to wander the streets on his own and explore the town. However, they are predicting very high winds,
meaning that tendering would be virtually impossible. So the captain made arrangements to dock in
Catania, a distance of about 40 kilometers away from Syracusa. We were in Catania in 2008 also, and it
doesn’t really draw one’s interest like Syracusa would (especially for a loyal
Orangeman). But I guess it’s dock in
Catania or totally miss the entire day in Sicily! While it’s most often desirable to dock
rather than tender, this was one time when Chuck was really hoping to
tender… So off we headed to the nearby
destination of Sicily, with very different than expected arrangements for the
day there!
BT
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