Off to the Islands

One of the challenges being the last trip of the season is weather. Our visit to the Aeolian islands was looking a little iffy, especially with a Medicane brewing over eastern Sicily and sending rain our way as well. The group 2nd prior to us actually got stuck on Lipari and had to spend an extra night on the island. Our guide didn't want to get stuck, so we only ended up spending one night here. Thursday will tell if it was the right call, as our change in plan meant we wouldn't get to do the boat tour tomorrow night that would take us to Panarea and Stromboli before holding for sunset.

Today was pretty much a travel day, by bus to Milazzo where we got a hydrofoil to Lipari, the largest of the Aeolian islands. It was a bit rainy to start, and the water was a bit choppy. Arriving in Lipari, it felt a little bit like a ghost town. Many of the shops were closed and there wasn't a lot of other people around. Because of the bad weather from the past 2 weeks, it seemed a number of shopkeepers decided to call it for the season. It would be nice to have come a few weeks earlier to feel the energy of the place.

We wandered around some of the archeological ruins and main pedestrian area before returning for a rest at the hotel. For dinner, I had the swordfish pasta, a specialty of the region, and my first cannoli. I've usually avoided cannoli at home, thinking it might be too rich, but these mini cannoli were just right.Read more