Across the straits of Messina on a ferry boat from Villa San Giovanni and a then a short drive to Milazzo - that's how we arrived in Sicily. It's exciting arriving at new destinations, and exciting anticipating what Sicily will reveal to us over the next weeks. On arrival at Milazzo we could see, well apart from the blue, blue sea..... a large, ugly power plant, a small and busy port with narrow, congested streets and dilapadated old buildings with deterioriated yet beautiful balconnettes. What we discovered in and around Milazzo over the next three days was a rich history that goes back to the Neolithic Age!
We are staying in the garden apartment of a young engineer, Stefano and his wife Barbara who have renovated two ancient buildings in the centre of Milazzo. Behind the old facade (which opens from the distinctive Milazzo marble footpath) and facing a central courtyard is the beautifully renovated apartment. Luxuriously, we have five rooms all of which retain the original stone ceiling, and a pretty Sicilian courtyard to sit in. It is amazing how Stefano has transformed the space within this ancient building. We were given great recommendations to local restaurants, and Barbara helped us buy tickets to travel to the Aoelian Islands.
We visited the smallest Aoelian island of Panarea and then went on to the furtherest - Stromboli - hoping to see a night time eruption of this active volcanic. The sea is spectacularly blue and Panarea was idyllic - small, no cars - just a few electric carts. It's called Isole Royale - the Royal Island. We wandered the winding lanes of San Pietro lined with low-lying white stucco homes wildly decorated with bright bouganvilla, lemon trees and tumbling geranium. We visited small shops and studios where artists live from May to September, selling their paintings, weavings, caftans and other creations. We enjoyed an hour sitting in Cafe del Porto talking with a Sicilian who has been spending her summers on Panarea for 40 years. She described Panarea before electricity and before the European jetset discovered it. During the 70s the boat trip from Sicily to Panarea was an adventure in itself, and she described romantic long, hot summers on this remote island. She was interested in our travels and suggested some Sicilian sights that we should not miss as we make our way around Sicily.
After Panarea we docked at Stomboli's porto Scari, and surrounding us was the black sand and pumice of the Stromboli coast. Incredibly, a black beach. We were amazed that there are actually villages on Stromboli. It's an active volcano....it explodes constantly and regularly! In our lifetimes signore and I have visited two active volcanoes.....one last week and one today!
On the island of Stromboli the locals are called Strombolianis, and as we walk around the village sure enough there's a church, cafes and a few restaurants, all sitting in the shadow of the great, grumbling, cloud-spewing monster. It was because of this cloud that unfortunately we didn't see any eruptions. What did erupt though was the sea! The 2-hour return sail over the Tyrrhenian Sea to Milazzo was a wild ride....the sea boiling and heaving us as we made our way through the darkness. Fortunately, signore and I didn't succumb to 'mal de mare', however dozens of our fellow passengers did.
We are staying in the garden apartment of a young engineer, Stefano and his wife Barbara who have renovated two ancient buildings in the centre of Milazzo. Behind the old facade (which opens from the distinctive Milazzo marble footpath) and facing a central courtyard is the beautifully renovated apartment. Luxuriously, we have five rooms all of which retain the original stone ceiling, and a pretty Sicilian courtyard to sit in. It is amazing how Stefano has transformed the space within this ancient building. We were given great recommendations to local restaurants, and Barbara helped us buy tickets to travel to the Aoelian Islands.
We visited the smallest Aoelian island of Panarea and then went on to the furtherest - Stromboli - hoping to see a night time eruption of this active volcanic. The sea is spectacularly blue and Panarea was idyllic - small, no cars - just a few electric carts. It's called Isole Royale - the Royal Island. We wandered the winding lanes of San Pietro lined with low-lying white stucco homes wildly decorated with bright bouganvilla, lemon trees and tumbling geranium. We visited small shops and studios where artists live from May to September, selling their paintings, weavings, caftans and other creations. We enjoyed an hour sitting in Cafe del Porto talking with a Sicilian who has been spending her summers on Panarea for 40 years. She described Panarea before electricity and before the European jetset discovered it. During the 70s the boat trip from Sicily to Panarea was an adventure in itself, and she described romantic long, hot summers on this remote island. She was interested in our travels and suggested some Sicilian sights that we should not miss as we make our way around Sicily.
After Panarea we docked at Stomboli's porto Scari, and surrounding us was the black sand and pumice of the Stromboli coast. Incredibly, a black beach. We were amazed that there are actually villages on Stromboli. It's an active volcano....it explodes constantly and regularly! In our lifetimes signore and I have visited two active volcanoes.....one last week and one today!
On the island of Stromboli the locals are called Strombolianis, and as we walk around the village sure enough there's a church, cafes and a few restaurants, all sitting in the shadow of the great, grumbling, cloud-spewing monster. It was because of this cloud that unfortunately we didn't see any eruptions. What did erupt though was the sea! The 2-hour return sail over the Tyrrhenian Sea to Milazzo was a wild ride....the sea boiling and heaving us as we made our way through the darkness. Fortunately, signore and I didn't succumb to 'mal de mare', however dozens of our fellow passengers did.
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| Down the toe, through Calabria to Sicily. |
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| Milazzo |
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| Milazzo's lovely tiled footpath. |
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| Stefano's renovation - original ceiling throughout. |
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| Aoelian Islands - Pretty Panarean I |
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| Pretty Panarea II. |
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| Pretty Panarea III. |
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| Panarean taxi - Stromboli is in the background. Until 6 years ago there were no vehicles at all on Panarea, now they have taxis..... |
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| ...and pursuit vehicles. |
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| Pretty Panarea IV. |
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| Barbara Calabresi's beautiful yarn and weaving studio on Panarea. |
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| Natural yarns, natural dyes from around Panarea. |
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| My new found love is Mediterranean floor tiles. |
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| Sandals and a caftan - standard Panarean dress code. |
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| Pretty Panarea V. |
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| The great Stromboli! |
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| Stromboli's black beach......quite amazing. |
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| Good to know..... |
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| It appears that Strombolianis' homes have no numbers, just names.... Vincenzo's.... |
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| Nonno's house (we'll be needing one of these come October!) |
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| Police station |
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| This is Strombolicchio, or Little Stromboli, it's a volcanic plug which hasn't had an eruption for 200,000 years (how do they know that?). It's lighthouse can be just be seen at the top. |
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| The Sciara del Fuoco - the fearsome northwest side of Stromboli. The crater is covered by cloud, so no visible eruptions tonight. |
Oh pretty pretty Panarea.
ReplyDeleteCaftans and sandals and no house numbers and only little carts.
Sigh.
xxx
......and it's all surrounded by the most beautiful sea! Sigh xxx
Delete(And that renovation kind of blows my mind ... now THAT'S working with heritage materials....)
ReplyDeleteSicilian architecture ....seems everyone has left their mark....Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Norman, Arab ..... More sighing Baj! This island is amazing.
DeleteParisian Cafe Chairs? Very 2011, if you ask me. It's all about the Mediterranean floor tiles in 2013!
ReplyDeleteSi, si, I have a lovely collection od Mediterranean floor tiles (sadly, photos only - signore has seemed a little relieved with each old tile that I've NOT purchased! Shop keepers think I come into their little crowded shops to look at their touristic junk.... actually, I'm admiring their ancient floor! #floored #shortfilmcomingsoon . Love you sarah cake xxxx
Delete#floored Gigi you are too mucha. Please tell me you bought yourself some of those sandals?
ReplyDelete.....that's it ....I'll have to go back! ;)
DeleteLove you Lara Jayne xxxx