On a cloudy and rainy day we anchored off the island of Lipari, the largest of the Aeolian Islands. It’s located just north of the tip of the Italian boot and just north of Sicily to its west. The island is basically one big hill with pretty steep inclines. It has a population of around 13,000. I had originally booked a wine tour for my outing here. But when I read the fine print and realized I had to do a 30-minute climb to get to the winery, I decided not to go and instead spend a day reading and being basically nonproductive. It turns out it was a wise move because not long after I woke up, the heavens opened up and the gods began throwing their lightning bolts. It was a very impressive storm! Several friends went ashore and came back thoroughly drenched. Two actually slipped and fell on that nice slick pavement all these places have. Thankfully no one was injured, just bruised.
Just to add something more interesting than my ramblings here are a few photos of Lipari taken when it wasn't pouring. It looks nice.
Lipari is part of a volcanic archipelago which lies between Mt. Vesuvius on the mainland near Naples and Mt. Etna on Sicily. One of the islands next to Lipari is Stromboli which also has an active volcano. In fact, at times we could see wisps of smoke coming from Stromboli when it wasn’t raining. I remember reading some years ago that in this part of the Mediterranean area below the sea there is a caldera of a supervolcano called Campi Flegrei which last erupted in the 1530’s. I remember when I read the article I thought it was one of those things that get printed periodically to get people all riled up thinking the world, or at least life as we know it, will end soon. It hasn’t happened today so I guess I can rest easy.
As with every place around here, Lipari and its sister islands have been occupied and captured by many civilizations, including Greeks, Phoenicians, Romans, Normans, Ottomans etc. At varying times the Arabic Saracens have crossed over from North Africa and either enslaved the entire island population or killed them. During the 1920s and 1930s when Mussolini came along he used the island to imprison political opponents.
I looked at Lipari from the ship, so that’s about all I can tell you about it. My friends told me there wasn’t a whole lot there and I’ll take their word for it. Meanwhile on the good ship Seabourn Encore I’m having a marvelous time. I discovered last night that my favorite duo, Barry and Merle, whom I met on a couple of my last cruises, have come on board. They are a lovely couple from South Africa who play lots of music I love. The downside of their arrival is that they play up in the Observation Bar, not in the Club in the evening. It’s a first world problem, I know, but do I go and listen to my favorite duo or do I go and dance? I’ll have to arrive at a suitable compromise.
Anyway that’s all for now.
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