We had one last breakfast in Taormina that consisted solely of a bulk package of croissants and noticed that the streets were fairly vacant. The influx of tourists appears to come later, around 11am and peaks in the late afternoon. This was confirmed when we were walking back to our car, and were confronted by a stampede of tour groups coming in the opposite direction. We had to come to a complete stop on a few occasions because people just wouldn’t move. Taormina is a pretty town when it’s not overrun, but there’s kind of a narrow window for that. I think Nicole and I were more than ready to get out.
We again braved the Sicilian drivers on our way toward Messina and ultimately Milazzo. We dealt with a bit of traffic in the city of Milazzo and observed that there’s actually no right-of-way at a traffic circle. It doesn’t matter if you’re already going around the circle, people will still fly in from the corners and cut you off. Also, nobody signals. It’s basically like driving around Florida, but fast-paced like Mario Kart (which incidentally features Italian drivers). After parking, we took a shuttle to the ferry dock and killed some time before it was ready to board. Both of us were a bit apprehensive about the boat, as we aren’t fans of the motion on the ocean, but it wasn’t too bad, just a fairly constant and predictable lurching motion as we cut through the waves.
We made a few stops enroute to our final destination of Stromboli. It docked at Lipari and Panarea before we arrived at our volcanic island in the mid-afternoon. People do live on this island, but the town is quite small, and the roads are virtually nonexistent, so most transportation is done by tuk tuk, golf cart, or scooter. A tuktuk dropped us off at our hotel about 1.2 km down the coast on a black sand beach. Our room is a bit dated looking, but the options are limited when spending the night on an active volcano.
We walked around the area for a little bit and did not have to wait long before we heard a sizzling, groaning sound emanating from the mountain above us. 30 seconds later, smoke billowed out of the top. This happened again about 10 minutes later. It was pretty incredible to be so close to something that was very much active. While it is an option to climb almost all the way up to the top of the volcano and peer in from a distance, the timing of the ferries pretty much eliminated this as an option. We would also have been required to rent hiking boots and other items because they apparently refuse to let you do it in regular shoes. In spite of all this, we found our own hiking trail that led to a restaurant about 2km away from town nestled up in the hillside below the volcano.
We ordered some beers and pizza and watched the smoke come out of the volcano at fairly regular intervals. Then the sun set and the real show began. We could now see lava spurting out and splashing down on the side of the cone. Each small eruption (or stromboli as it is also known) would last for about 5-10 seconds only, so taking pictures proved to be a bit of a challenge, but I think Nicole and I both walked away with some suitable images. I had seen lava slowly ooze into the ocean at Kilauea on the Big Island of Hawaii over 10 years ago, but seeing Stromboli physically throwing it in the air was certainly more of a spectacle. And this was all in front of us while we were sitting in the outdoor terrace of a pizza restaurant. It’s like it was part of some dinner show.
After all of this excitement, we had to hike back to our hotel. While it was mostly downhill, the challenge came in that it was complete darkness. I had brought my flashlight from my pilot bag for just such a scenario, so we were able to illuminate the ground a little bit in front of us. If I turned it off we could see only the stars above us. We eventually found our way back to the hotel and settled in for a well-earned rest.
We again braved the Sicilian drivers on our way toward Messina and ultimately Milazzo. We dealt with a bit of traffic in the city of Milazzo and observed that there’s actually no right-of-way at a traffic circle. It doesn’t matter if you’re already going around the circle, people will still fly in from the corners and cut you off. Also, nobody signals. It’s basically like driving around Florida, but fast-paced like Mario Kart (which incidentally features Italian drivers). After parking, we took a shuttle to the ferry dock and killed some time before it was ready to board. Both of us were a bit apprehensive about the boat, as we aren’t fans of the motion on the ocean, but it wasn’t too bad, just a fairly constant and predictable lurching motion as we cut through the waves.
We made a few stops enroute to our final destination of Stromboli. It docked at Lipari and Panarea before we arrived at our volcanic island in the mid-afternoon. People do live on this island, but the town is quite small, and the roads are virtually nonexistent, so most transportation is done by tuk tuk, golf cart, or scooter. A tuktuk dropped us off at our hotel about 1.2 km down the coast on a black sand beach. Our room is a bit dated looking, but the options are limited when spending the night on an active volcano.
We walked around the area for a little bit and did not have to wait long before we heard a sizzling, groaning sound emanating from the mountain above us. 30 seconds later, smoke billowed out of the top. This happened again about 10 minutes later. It was pretty incredible to be so close to something that was very much active. While it is an option to climb almost all the way up to the top of the volcano and peer in from a distance, the timing of the ferries pretty much eliminated this as an option. We would also have been required to rent hiking boots and other items because they apparently refuse to let you do it in regular shoes. In spite of all this, we found our own hiking trail that led to a restaurant about 2km away from town nestled up in the hillside below the volcano.
We ordered some beers and pizza and watched the smoke come out of the volcano at fairly regular intervals. Then the sun set and the real show began. We could now see lava spurting out and splashing down on the side of the cone. Each small eruption (or stromboli as it is also known) would last for about 5-10 seconds only, so taking pictures proved to be a bit of a challenge, but I think Nicole and I both walked away with some suitable images. I had seen lava slowly ooze into the ocean at Kilauea on the Big Island of Hawaii over 10 years ago, but seeing Stromboli physically throwing it in the air was certainly more of a spectacle. And this was all in front of us while we were sitting in the outdoor terrace of a pizza restaurant. It’s like it was part of some dinner show.
After all of this excitement, we had to hike back to our hotel. While it was mostly downhill, the challenge came in that it was complete darkness. I had brought my flashlight from my pilot bag for just such a scenario, so we were able to illuminate the ground a little bit in front of us. If I turned it off we could see only the stars above us. We eventually found our way back to the hotel and settled in for a well-earned rest.
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