Posted by carolineh on Saturday, May 20, 2017 in 2017 Blog post.

Two days ago, a couple of us took a boat over to the Aeolian Islands for the day. The opportunity came up last minute, and we signed up without having much of an idea what to expect. We left from Cefalú around 8:30 am and traveled to the islands by boat. Once we arrived at the island chain, we spent about an hour and a half at three of the eight islands: Salina, Panarea, and Stomboli. My experience on each island was unique. In Salina, we walked around the small, brightly painted town and enjoyed our lunches on cement blocks by the sea. The town reminded me of Charleston, South Carolina because of its multicolored buildings. In Panarea we hopped in a “taxi” (actually a golf cart) and drove to a small beach next to a cliffside. We hiked the cliff to get a view of the town of Panarea. The vast ocean, dotted with sailboats, combined with the contrast of the white buildings of Panarea against the lush green backdrop made for some great pictures! After taking our golf cart taxi back to the harbor, we returned to the boat and made our way to Stromboli.

 

Out of the three islands, Stromboli was the most different from anything that I’d ever seen. The island is dominated by an active volcano, so all of the beaches on the island consist of black sand. The volcano consistently emits a small stream of smoke, which we could see as we explored the section of town closest to the harbor. This island seemed the most touristy, which I expected because of the allure of the volcano. We passed several huts and stores selling tours and/or hikes up the volcano, and I definitely would have taken advantage of them had we had more time! We ate dinner at Stromboli then returned to the boat as the sun set. From the boat we observed the volcano, hoping to see some kind of eruption. We got lucky; the volcano produced lava three times while we were watching! I have never seen an active volcano before, so this experience was particularly exciting! Based on movies and pictures that I’ve seen of volcanoes erupting, I expected a more action-packed eruption (more lava, smoke, some noise), but the volcano only yielded a small amount of lava. It was still, however, an incredibly memorable experience.

 

Although all three of these islands seemed to have been built with tourism in mind, they did not come across in the same way that American tourist attractions do. American tourist sites are usually big, flashy, and incredibly crowded. Places that come to mind that fit this description include Disney World in Florida and Sea Island, a beach off of the coast of Georgia. The towns on the Aeolian Islands were quaint and only moderately crowded. Nevertheless, like American tourist destinations, there were many people attempting to sell products and services, and most things were overpriced.

 

As previously noted, I had no idea to expect when I signed on to travel to the Aeolian islands. I did not know anything about any of the islands other than Lipari. We learned in class that Aeolians used obsidian from Lipari’s volcanic eruptions to produce sharp weapons. The book notes that other volcanic islands (such as Stromboli) produced obsidian, but not in quantities as large as were produced in Lipari. When we were walking around Stromboli, we found obsidian for sale!

 

My only other knowledge of the Aeolian islands previous to traveling there was based on my reading the Odyssey in a high school literature class. Having read this epic poem made coming to these islands a surreal experience. When I read the Odyssey in high school, I always pictured it taking place in a far away, mystical, ancient land. Traveling to the home of the wind god (Aeolus) affirmed that Homer’s epic poem was based on real nature phenomena in places that actually exist in the world, which I found very cool! I have always had a hard time connecting to ancient literature because of its tendency to focus on magic, monsters, interactions with gods, and distant lands. Experiencing the Aeolian islands shifted my perception and allowed me to see that the monsters, gods, and mysterious places are not so far away after all. I am so glad that I made the last-minute decision to visit these islands; it was an experience that I will never forget.

Pictures:

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https://vanderbilt.box.com/s/in4hveuygtmto02ofn5pflwfxkj71ztl