Exploring Salina, The Island Of The Twin Mountains
After our explorations of Lipari and Salina yesterday the weather was going to keep us on the island of Salina today. I got up early at about 6 am and stuck my head out of the boat. A lovely sunrise was in the making so I grabbed my video camera and took in the peach, pink and orange coloured hues of this marvelous dawn in Santa Marina. Dark coloured clouds were hanging on the horizon. A catamaran had actually just pulled out of the harbour and supplied an intriguing anchor point for my photos.
Soon after it started to rain and when we got up for breakfast our skipper Francesco discussed that the weather forecast today may not be good enough for us to leave the island, so we need to have a briefing in the early afternoon. Two additional visitors had actually shown up, Franco, another Italian instructor and the co-owner of Laboratorio Linguistico, and his pal Agnieszka, a young music student from Poland who was learning Italian given that she was studying music in Rome. Our relied on four-cabin sailboat, the Solitaire II, now had guests in every cabin, and there were 7 people taking a trip now.
Herbert, the German tv travel reporter, was on an official area hunting journey for his travel show to gather intelligence for next year's shoot which would include the Italian learning experience on board of a sailboat, provided by Francesco's business, Laboratorio Linguistico. Herbert needed to take a look at all the fascinating spots, the lighting, the locations and the facilities so he would have the ability to make plans for the electronic camera and the script crew that would come down from Germany next year to film the amazing experience of discovering Italian on a sailboat while cruising through the stunning Eolian Islands.
In order to get to understand the island better Herbert had actually asked Francesco to make arrangements with some regional professionals to take him to different spots on the island. Herbert graciously used to take other individuals along on his island expedition, and Claudia and me excitedly concurred. Sure enough, Sabina Giuffré, who we had currently fulfilled last night at supper, and her regional good friend Giancarlo, concerned choose us up in a rented automobile to offer us a tour of the island.
We were good and comfortable in the small Italian lorry and after simply a 10 minute drive, we had reached our first stop: the "Gola del Diablo", a canyon cut into the black and brown volcanic rock, featuring an ancient Roman bridge. The stone formations were undoubtedly outstanding, and the layers of ancient lava circulations were plainly noticeable.
We likewise stopped in the town of Lingua where we went to a local ethnographic museum that included various exhibitions, illustrating the ancient way of livings on this local island. An ancient millstone, various farming implements, even an original bed room from a farm were shown in this museum. This little museum provides great insight into the traditional way of life on these islands. We then walked the corner and actions away is the primary square of this small town. Here at the Bar "Da Alfredo" we congregated and received totally free samples of granitas-- the semi-frozen Sicilian dessert composed of sugar, water and different flavourings such as strawberry, melon, peach, orange, lime, coffee, almonds and many others.
Similar to sorbets, granitas typically have bigger crystals, and the locals often consume them in mix with a brioche. The black sky overhanging the mountains was ominous, however a bright ray of sunshine illuminated the façades of your houses around the square. A huge husky pet dog was snoozing contentedly on the flooring and I was questioning how this poor pet dog with his thick fur would have the ability to handle the hot Sicilian summertimes. The locals were very hospitable and humorous small talk was flying back and forth.
From here we drove back through Salina, dropped off Giancarlo and stopped at Sabina's house which she has actually turned into a bed and breakfast. Salina's dad came to greet us and I couldn't identify a resemblance however help to well-known star Kirk Douglas.
We appreciated this little roadside treat, thanked Sabina's father and continued our journey towards the next town on this island: Malfa, a small angler's town. Along the method we stopped to admire the malvasia vineyards as well as spots of capers which are huge export products for the island of Salina.
Sabina took us down to the fishing harbour and then back up the hill to a lookout point called the "semaforo", a security tower set up in the early 20th century which was likewise used during the Second World War. Sabina pointed out that UNESCO used to buy this tower, however the local town turned down the deal.
Sabina stopped the vehicle and we left onto a lookout point which provided a gorgeous view of the Mediterranean with a fantastic view of the island of Filicudi-- the "reclining pregrant female", so called since of its shape, including a head and what looks like a huge belly, extending from the sea. To our left was a deeply indented valley which Sabina discussed is an ancient volcanic crater, half of which has broken off and vanished in the sea. Today it is the area for the town of Pollara which has one primary traveler attraction: the house where the motion picture "Il Postino" was filmed.
Obviously we needed to inspect this out so we drove down some narrow winding roads, parked the car and walked up a short stretch on a dirty
After our explorations of Lipari and Salina yesterday the weather condition was going to keep us on the island of Salina today. Soon after it began to rain and when we got up for breakfast our skipper Francesco described that the weather forecast today might not be good enough for us to leave the island, so we have to have a rundown in the early afternoon. In order to get to understand the island much better Herbert had actually asked Francesco to make arrangements with some regional specialists to take him to various spots on the island. Sure enough, Sabina Giuffré, who we had currently met last night at supper, and her local friend Giancarlo, came to pick us up in a leased car to provide us a trip of the island.
We likewise stopped in the town of Lingua where we checked out a regional ethnographic museum that included different exhibitions, highlighting the ancient ways of life on this regional island.