The Aeolian Islands were submarine volcanoes that emerged from the sea around 700,000 years ago. Eruptions over the millennia have produced pumice stone and obsidian. Strange bedfellows to me, a non-volcanologist! - one stone is light as air, pale in colour and pockmarked with millions of holes. The other, obsidian, is black shiny and extremely hard (perfect for making tools. I found some tool ‘chips’ in Bolivia earlier in the year). Both are volcanic glass (yes pumice) and both were once mined and exported bringing great prosperity to the archipelago. Obsidian is the most sought-after by tourists and it is everywhere and, no, I didn’t buy any. I wish I had but I have a little from Armenia so that will have to satisfy me.
There are seven main islands in the Aeolian archipelago - Lipari, Vulcano, Salina, Panarea, Stromboli, Filicudi and Alicudi. We were to visit four. Today Stromboli, one of the two volcanoes still active in the archipelago, and Panarea. It was a wonder-filled day. We stopped first at Panarea.
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| A quiet cove on Panare. Bottom right a few our our travel mates having fun. |
Panarea was delightful. Lots of lovely boats here - as well as ruins. Some of our fellow travellers swam in a quiet cove – not me. A small group of brave souls gave us a delightful display of wonky synchronized swimming. Great effort!
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| Note tiny taxis ferrying people up the hill - wish that it had been us! |
In the village we just had a little wander through tangled alleys up and down the slopes so pretty with flowers everywhere including succulents. This is a dormant volcano or so I thought. It was thought to be nothing more than the remains of an old crater until about 30 years ago when persistent hydrothermal activity was detected, the most intense in the Mediterranean. Then 20 years ago a subterranean explosion occurred which released a significant quantity of CO2 which suffocated all forms of underwater life over a vast area. So things aren’t always what they seem.
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| Mt Stromboli in the distance |
After a spot of lunch we piled back into the boat and headed for Stromboli. I was pretty, no, very excited.
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