July 16
Up early to FaceTime the family before a light breakfast and off to Milazzo. There must have been 40 tunnels and 20 odd bridges to negotiate on the way as we followed the coast. Apparently there are 40 k worth of tunnels on the way. Dropped the car off in Milazzo about 500 m from the ferry terminal to Lipari. Lugged the cases in the heat and got there in plenty of time. Cafe freddo was good. A 1 hour ferry trip with one stop at Vulcano which was sulphuring away before arriving at Lipari and a taxi up the hill to the hotel. Bite to eat down the main street before heading back up the hill for a swim in the pool then dinner in the restaurant. Great view from the room overlooking the ocean.
july 17
Looked at booking a car tour of the island and ended up taking an island tour by boat from 2 pm until around 10.30 pm out to Panarea then the active volcano Stromboli. We spent a couple of hours wandering the streets and watching tourists and the locals running around in their 3 wheel Piaggio utes. Got back on the boat as the sun set and headed to the west side of the island to view the eruptions. Pretty spectacular, we saw around 4 big eruptions sending red hot scree rolling down the mountain to the sea and a number of smaller ones in around 45 minutes along with other boats before heading back to Lipari about an hour away.
July 18
Wandered down to the port where I found a barber for a hair cut then found a salon for Michelle where we were exposed to a little threatre from the hairdresser - parrucchiere who got his underlings to do the menial tasks while he swanned around with passion looking for inspiration and asking if I wanted cafe? We then had a light salad lunch and had a tour of the island by car. This was not driven by our man from yesterday or in the car he indicated. It was by a young girl maybe his girlfriend in a small car. Her English was reasonable and she stopped for photos and explained what we were looking at pretty well. Including caper bushes which we had no idea how they grew - wild ones on roadside cliffs. Also saw where the pumice mines were before UNESCO put a stop to its export. Back to the hotel for a swim. Decided to have dinner in town. As we left the hotel we met a Norwegian man who had been staying at the same hotel in Cefalu. He invited us back to meet his wife and friend at their hotel. We all had dinner together 1030 and they were interesting and delightful. A rather late night followed.
