Ciao, Lipari

Our final days in Lipari were without internet, but here's a quick catch-up (I'm writing this from Milan).

The weather was perfect and we were able to catch the ferry to the island of Salina, the greenest of the islands that make up the Isole Eolie group and the second in size to Lipari. Spent a few hours wandering the Santa Marina beachfront area, with views out to the islands of Panarea and Stromboli. There are a number of villages around the island and hopefully we will return and spend a day or two visiting and dipping in the beaches.

Back in Lipari, we spent the last couple of days indulging in our favourite island activities - walking, eating, swimming! - and we shared a wonderful dinner with Nicole and Armando (who own the apartments where we stayed) and their daughter Chloe. The morning we left, there was a parcel on our doorstep...biscotti treats from our favourite pasticceria for the long train ride to Milan...that just-baked-biscuit scent made me smile every time I opened my backpack!

And so, it's 'Ciao, Lipari'...but only till next time...

A cool change

The past two days have seen the temperature drop to the low 20s and we've had some dark clouds, wind and a little rain, interspersed with bursts of sunshine...autumn is creeping into Lipari.

We had planned to take a ferry to one of the other islands, but held off as we were unsure how dramatic the forecast thunderstorms would be. As it turns out, we could have gone...but hindsight is better than the possibility of seasickness! We hope to make the ferry trip in the next day or two.

So, staying close to home has continued our relaxed days of eating, walking, swimming. Bliss!

We have a favourite pasticceria for breakfast - Pino D'Ambra's tiny Arte e Sapori - oh, and we see him again for afternoon caffè and cannoli, or cassata, or one of his handmade biscuits (which he often wraps in paper and hands to you, warm from the oven, as you're leaving!) Below you will see our breakfast sfogli marmellata (sfogliatelle), paper thin leaves of pastry filled with our choice of marmalade, and my afternoon cannolo filled with sweetened ricotta and ricotta with pistachio (mi dispiace, I took a bite before the photograph!) The pastries are chosen unfilled, and it is only when you order them that they're completed with your choice of filling...a pre-filled cannolo? Sicuramente no!

Observations in Lipari

When we next return to Lipari, I am going to make sure I can speak enough Italian to convince the locals to pose for a photo for me. Let me share some observations with you...

Like earlier travels in Sicily, there is little English spoken on Lipari. What makes it fun is that the Sicilians don't care! Even if you explain, "Mi dispiace, non parlo italiano", the conversation simply continues in Italian...sometimes they just repeat what they asked, knowing that eventually we'll get the gist! 

Men of a certain age (and I don't mean young!) are entitled to dress only in shorts and sandals. Whether they are shaking the breakfast tablecloth out the door into the street, or sitting at the local café...even serenading those who pass or choose to sit down and have a caffè...shirts are optional!

Women share time together and do as they please. If you visit our local beach about 6.00pm, you will find some local ladies (again, of a certain age) unchaining a group of chairs from a fence adjacent to the beach and setting the chairs in a row, slipping on their swimsuits under their dresses and going for a dip, followed by an animated catch-up while seated in a row, and then replacing swimsuits with dresses, or comfy pants and a singlet, re-stacking the chairs and locking them to the fence, and then on their way.

I love the come-as-you-please vibe of Lipari!

P.S. See the gorgeous Gina in the photo below - Nicole's dog, keeping watch from the wall in the front of the apartments - and the incredible flowers on the Dutchman's Pipe vine.

Adjusting the routine

Breakfast at the pasticceria...coffee and cornettos marmellata (marmalade or jam filled croissants)

Trip to the deli for ready-made salads of grilled broccoli, beans, zucchini ribbons, some formaggio, cold meats for Signore Brent, two crispy fresh bread rolls.

A wander through the streets, taking in the colours (even if just the washing hanging from the balconies!).

To the beach!

Home for a shower and relax. Many of the shops, restaurants and cafés close about 1pm and re-open around 4.30pm. Many don't actually close their doors, but instead pull chairs or plants across the entrance, and perhaps a makeshift board, just to indicate that they're closed. The noise of the town gradually dies, except for occasional motor scooters and motor boats...and then it's buonasera and the evening begins! Although, we did come across a four-legged fellow who was sleeping in the shade of the afternoon on the warm cobblestones and seemed to be asking, "Siesta, it's over??"

Nicole let us know her favourite shop for fruit and vegetables...it opens daily at 5pm! So we pick up plums, peaches, grapes, grapefruit for a fruit salad dinner...a bottle of wine, some Messina birra, and water.

A stop at a discovered pasticceria for cannoli (warm from the oven), stuffed with ricotta and sprinkled with pistachios...and a wander home.

Ahh, yes...what better way to settle in!

It was hard work, but Lipari, you're worth it!

Today (Wednesday) we arrived in Lipari just before noon. Let me describe how we got here...

Tuesday: up at 5.30am, collected by Matthieu at 7.00 for the drive to the airport (lovely to have Matthieu's help getting the bags down 3 flights of stairs!) On the plane at 9.20 for the 1.5 hour flight to Milan, short wait in Milan for connecting 1.5 hour flight to Palermo airport, Sicily. Take the train from the airport to Palermo train station (50 minutes). The platforms at Palermo station are all at ground level - no stairs! We ventured outside the station for a walk - Palermo is as crazy as I remember! Drivers tooting and yelling, traffic darting in all directions - even saw a man yelling and running after a laughing boy on a motor scooter...making his escape! 

Wait at Palermo for the 4.30pm train taking us the 2.5 hour trip to Milazzo station. Most of the train trip had the coastline on our left and rocky hills on the right...pretty relaxing. Sometimes is was just a small strip of pebbly beach between us and the water; other times there were houses built so close to the train line, if we had stopped I could have stepped onto their back doorstep! Arrive at Milazzo at 7pm - oh, no, I spy 2 flights of stairs! No Matthieu! Carry the bags down 2 flights of stairs from the platform, then up 2 flights of stairs to the station entrance! Taxi to the hotel, arrived just before 7.30pm...oh, no, more stairs! Grubby and exhausted...

Wednesday: we were booked on the 10.45am ferry from Milazzo port to Lipari. The ferry terminal was only a few minutes walk from the hotel, so we could start the day at a reasonable hour, enjoy breakfast on the hotel rooftop terrace, then carry those bags down and wheel our way across to the ferry terminal. Smooth boarding, some lifting of cases and then stacking them in the baggage area. The ferry was busy...first stop Vulcano, then Lipari. We've arrived! Nicole (the holiday apartment owner) sent a taxi to collect us and a strapping woman driver swung our bags into the back of her wagon. An angel disguised as a taxi driver! We're both feeling every muscle in our shoulders!

Nicole greeted us in the street with a hug and we walked to the apartments together (the tiny streets have very limited parking and many are pedestrian only). We were last here in 2019 (which was our first visit to Lipari), but chatting with Nicole, it felt like yesterday. We met Nicole's daughter Chloe (a new addition to the family since we were here last) - she will be 2 in November - and we headed down to our apartment. It's just how we remember it...oh my goodness, it's great to be back! 

We have a beautiful undercover patio, and a petite, comfy apartment with everything we need. The path to the apartment is lined with hibiscus and bougainvillea, and when you turn towards the gate, the view is across the greenery to the sea. Just outside the gate, and down a short section of cobbled street, is a tiny, rocky beach. First stop...a souvenir shop to buy a pair of sea jiffies! Those rubber soles make it easy going on the stones. Second stop...the beach!

Reckon we'll sleep well tonight!

Arrivederci Lipari

Sadly we must leave Lipari tomorrow (Friday).  We've had a fabulous few days and, if I was a betting woman, I'd bet we'll be back!  The accommodation was absolutely perfect - from the location to the facilities, to the warmth and welcome of the owner - and we would definitely return to Villa Sea Rose.

Swimming and sunsets, gelati and granita, aperitivi and stunning views, sun...sun...sun...it's been wonderful!

Tomorrow we head to Ragusa.

Sunset at Chiesa Vecchia

Last night Nicole took us (together with a lovely woman from Melbourne who is here for five months!) on a tour around the island, heading for a sunset stop where we would be able to see five of the islands of the Isole Eolie...Salina, Filicudi, Alicudi, Stromboli, Panarea.  On the way we stopped at a view point for Vulcano.

We headed off at 4pm, with sunset about 7.15pm.  On the way, Nicole stopped at a favourite shop for tiny cornetto ice creams...hazelnut or pistachio...dipped in chocolate, and later for an aperitivo at a beachside bar in tiny, quiet Acquacalda.  We visited a number of lookout points around the island, and the abandoned pumice mines that were closed (not so long ago) under pressure from UNESCO.  The natural pumice cliffs give the water an almost iridescent aqua colour.

We bought a bottle of wine from a restaurant...and they gave us a bottle opener (to be returned later) and plastic cups...our sunset cheers!

Such fun!