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

Instead of climbing La Rocca on Thursday, a group of us decided to take an island-hopping trip to Salina, Panarea and Stromboli. The towns we stopped in were set on the side of a mountain on the water, similar to Cefalu, except far less populated. Out of the three stops, Panarea was my favorite. Panarea has the most Greek influence out of the Aeolian Islands, which is evident in the architecture and town layout. It is similar to Santorini and other Greek Islands with white buildings and blue doors on the side of a mountain. We were told to take a taxi to the side of the island to see the best beach out of all the islands.

We docked and immediately started searching for a taxi. At first all we could were golf carts, which we then realized were the taxis. We hopped on the next golf cart we could find- Emily, Meghan and I squished in the back, Seryna in the front- and we set off through the town. The views as we climbed higher were incredible. We flew through the streets, getting hit by branches on the sides as we turned sharp corners. The streets were half the size of the already narrow streets in Cefalu. Another golf cart would be coming from the other direction, and just when we thought we could not go any further, the golf carts seemed to shrink and squeeze past each other. These taxi drivers maneuvered the streets almost crazier than the New York City cab drivers.

What struck me was the fact that there were only five cabs as far as I could see on the island. I kept seeing the same drivers swerving through the streets. In such a small town, there is no need for more than that. It is different from the US where anyone can become a cab driver with the increasing popularity of Uber and Lyft. I doubt these towns will ever get Uber or Lyft; even a larger city such as Palermo does not have Uber. At school, we rarely operate without Uber- we never walk anywhere. It is interesting to see how these towns will remain years behind the US in technology and seem to have no desire to advance either.