Hello From Sicily - A Driving Tour Through Lipari and a Magical Evening in Vulcano

Our beautiful dinner in the old town of Lipari lastuse of obsidian is as a gemstone, and many
night was another opportunity to get to knowstores in the Eolian Islands sell jewelry crafted
Sicilian cuisine. A light-hearted evening wasfrom this volcanic glass.
followed by a night of deep sleep and by 8 amWe came around the northern tip of Lipari where
this morning I stuck my head out of the boat:a beautiful view opened up toward the island of
another gorgeous day! Everyone was still sleepingSalina. Pasquale took us up a mountain road to the
and I had about an hour and half to walk intoSantuario di Chiesa Vecchia di Quattropani, a
town and catch another glimpse of picturesquebeautiful country church located on a hill with a
Lipari. I mailed my postcards and picked up somephenomenal view over several of the Eolian
fresh locally grown oranges for the gang on theIslands. As we were standing by the railing of the
boat.terrace, a jet fighter flew by at what seemed like
Once back at the boat, my co-travellers Herbert,supersonic speed, literally a few meters above
Claudia and I were ready for another excursion: athe water. By the time we realized where the
driving tour of Lipari. Herbert is a German TVbooming sound was coming from it was already
travel journalist and is planning to bring a televisiondisappearing into the horizon.
crew to Sicily next year to film the ItalianAnother 15 minutes further on the west side of
language learning experience aboard a sailboatthe island we stopped at an abandoned kaolin
provided by Laboratorio Linguistico. Naturally hequarry. Kaolin is a silica-based mineral that is used
has to scout out the various locations to checkin the production of ceramics, as a food additive
into sights of interest, lighting, and facilities - all theand even as an ingredient in toothpaste.
factors that will have a bearing on the shoot.Everything was blooming around here, and yellow
He had asked our captain Francesco to arrangeand purple flowers lit up the crags overlooking the
for a local guide who would drive him around thesea.
island and generously invited Claudia and me toAt the southern tip of Lipari we stopped on a
come along. Our driver Pasquale Liberatore (whatparking lot beside a private village and had a
a great name), a Lipari resident, arrived punctuallyphenomenal view of the nearby island of Vulcano.
at 9:30 am to pick us up at the Lipari pleasureWe could even see the columns of sulphur fumes
craft harbour to take us on a tour through thisemanating from the fissures near the crater of
beautiful island.this still active volcano. A flat stretch of land called
Pasquale packed us into his vehicle and off weVulcanello is located in front of the main island of
went. His personal story, incidentally, is also quiteVulcano. This part of the island appeared only
interesting: Pasquale was born and grew up inabout 2000 years ago in a volcanic eruption.
Lipari and then in the lat 1950s his familyVolcanism is still reshaping the earth all around
emigrated to Melbourne, Australia, where there ishere.
a large community of southern ItalianWe had seen almost every corner of this small
émigrés. Southern Italy wentisland and Pasquale dropped us off near
through real economic hardship after World Wardowntown Lipari. This guided tour provided by a
II, and many hundreds of thousands of peoplelocal expert was a great way of getting to know
emigrated from the mainland and the islands.the island of Lipari. Claudia and I headed straight
Pasquale spent a few decades in Australia but asfor an outdoor restaurant on the piazza by Marina
the only person from his immediate family, heCorta and had a well-deserved lunch and another
returned to Lipari to live here. He has now beennice stroll through town before we started to
back for about 15 years and loves living herehead back to our sailboat.
although he occasionally misses his brothers andAround 3 pm we said goodbye to Lipari and set
sisters and their families who are still living insail for our next destination: Vulcano. On our way
Australia. Of course he speaks excellent English,our skipper Francesco took us past some very
and that is how he markets himself - Pasquale,interesting rock formations at the southern end
the English-speaking cab driver and tour guide.of Lipari. One protruding rock column was
The first place he took us to was a village northreminiscent of a praying pope while several tall
of Lipari called Canneto which has a beautifulisolated rocks grew right out of the sea in front
waterfront location, draped around aof Lipari. We circled around to the eastern side of
horseshoe-shaped bay. We decided to catch aVulcano and dropped anchor in the bay in front of
little late breakfast first, and I really enjoyed myPorto di Levante, the only landing place on the
refreshing lemon granita, a typical Sicilian specialtyisland. Several ferry boats were making their
- crushed ice that comes in a variety of flavours,entries to and exits from the bay, and several
a great idea for starting off the day. Herbertother sailboats were anchored at a distance from
enjoyed a fresh croissant and an espresso.the island.
On our way out of the bar, parked by theNow it was time for our Italian lesson: for two
lungomare, the waterfront promenade, a localhours in the late afternoon Claudia, Agnieszka and
fisherman was selling fresh fish he caught thisI were studying concepts such as the Italian
morning out of a little three-wheeled cargo vehicle.Condizionale as well as the Congiuntivo under the
He shouted out the names of the fish with aguidance of our expert teacher Franco. You would
peculiar cadence that was sure to attract thedefinitely be hard-pressed to find a more
attention of passers-by. This is one thing I noticedstimulating environment to study Italian than a
about Sicily: street selling, particularly of fish,sailboat anchored in a beautiful bay in Southern
produce and other edible products, is still a popularItaly.
way of marketing one's merchandise.The wonderful thing about this sailing trip has been
We continued our drive towards the white pumiceso far that it has been a nearly perfect immersion
quarries that Lipari is famous for. This volcanicin Italian, where we are hearing the language all
stone is used for the production of cement, as anday and both our teachers communicate only in
abrasive and a cosmetic exfoliant. Pumice is aItalian with us. This concept is as close to full
highly porous, extremely light-weight, usually whiteimmersion as one can imagine, and the learning
stone that is formed during volcanic eruptions.process is very intense and fast.
Just a few dozen meters away from the pumiceFor the evening we stayed on the boat and
quarries we stopped to see another type ofwatched a beautiful sunset which bathed the
volcanic stone: obsidian, or volcanic glass, which isentire scene in hues of pink and purple. After our
a dark-brown, dense, virtually opaque and heavyon-board dinner we retreated outside where
substance.Agnieszka, a gifted singer, and Franco, a great
Pasquale explained that the chemical make-up ofguitar player, teamed up and entertained us with
obsidian and pumice is essentially the same, butmany different soulfully delivered classics.
that they are ejected a different temperaturesSitting on a sailboat at night, by candlelight, in the
during volcanic eruptions. Obsidian has been usedbeautiful bay of Vulcano, listening to the touching
for eons; because of its flint-like quality it canmelodies of two gifted artists, was a magical,
easily be shaped into blades and spear tips andalmost spiritual experience. I knew tomorrow was
other cutting instruments. Today obsidian is evengoing to be our last day on this sailing trip, but I
used as for surgical scalpels which produce lessdidn't want this moment to end...
trauma than steel scalpels. Another less high-tech