Last week my friend from Austria came to visit me in Calabria and we embarked on a short trip to the Aeolian islands. The Aeolian islands, or isole Eolie, as we Italians know them, are a group of volcanic islands just off of Sicily and they are considered a top, VIP holiday destination for us.
Well we basically had a phenomenal time; we were on a small boat the entire day and took a tour of the islands. Lipari, the island where we stayed, smelled of flowers and rosemary. Panarea, the most VIP one of all, looked so much like Santorini and was literally breathtaking. The water was so heavenly, see-through, warm and tropical that there were jellyfish everywhere, and I do mean
everywhere. There were even points where, because of the volcano, the water was literally boiling! Why travel all the way to Greece when Italy looks this beautiful?! Finally we saw Stromboli, home to the volcano with the longest ongoing activity in recorded history. After witnessing one of the most astonishing sunsets I have ever seen, our boat stopped by the
sciara del fuoco and we saw the volcano erupt three times, taking a shot of malvasia at every eruption. Try and beat
this drinking game!
Let us not forget the food. This was actually my first time in Sicily and I nearly lost my head. Mulberry and almond granitas, blood oranges, pistachio and ragu arancini, pasta with cocoa, pistachios, cherry tomatoes and pesce spada, and don't even get me started on the fish... The myths of unbeatable Sicilian food are indeed all true. I made friends with a lot of old ladies and they shared some of their secret recipes with me. Fantastic. However, we did commit the sin of leaving without having tried a single cannolo. My grandpa would be furious.
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| Shots of malvasia at every eruption! |
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| On top of the Isola di Dino in Calabria |
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| One of the many many granitas |
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| At the Stretto di Messina, between Calabria and Sicily |
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| Homemade arancini in Panarea |
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| Boiling sea water! |
Summer rules.
C x
