Friday, November 10, 2006

Island Rain

Well, today, instead of immersing ourselves in radioactive volcanic mud of Vulcano, we are forced to take a day off. Dan's having a little nappy and I'm having my fun here in the cafe.

I am not kidding about the mud. Vulcano has very few permanent residents, because of the alleged nasty smell--sulphur--but has this nifty laghi di fanghi of 'therapeutic' stinky mud. For this I have purchased a Bathing Costume--my one swimsuit went AWOL before we left. This Fashion Treasure is navy blue, my least favorite color in the entire world, and is two-piece. I would love to say that all the walking has done wonders for my girlish figure, but that would be a bold-faced lie. My legs are steely, but the pasta has worked against removing any insulating layers atop those steel bands. The top of the costume is, shall we say, minimally constructed, and a girl like me might run into trouble if the tiny clasp on the back gives way, but it is a risk I have to take considering the other choice, a magenta one-piece with foam cones in the upper region, and very modest leg openings (near my knees). I just could not go there. So, tomorrow? I'll let you know just how it is--we are promised that we can also walk to the edge of the small crater, if we can stand the smell, and that there is a black sand beach with hot water springs for rinsing off.

We are also promised that our Bathing Costumes will never relinquish the fragrance they will acquire.

Yesterday, we were wandering the Marina Corta, trying to figure out if a trip to Stromboli and the hike to the crater might be feasible. Not much was happening there, but we did see someone mending fishing nets:


We were approached on the piazza at Marina Corta by a local seaman named Antonio, who offered to take us out in his boat Marea. We agreed on a price and an itinerary, and we were off. This is a view of the old, fortified part of Lipari town, home to a fine archaelogical museum and a museum dedicated to the volcanic history of the Aeolian Islands:



Antonio took us motoring around the SW end of Lipari, toward Vulcano, to see the Grotte Azzure, the Spiaggia da Vinci (spiaggia=beach) and around some huge stacks of volcanic rock whose name now escapes me. (Every time we cannot remember the name for something, we have been substituting 'funiculare' as a plausible replacement, and that would actually be pretty close, I think. )


The water, very deep, ranged from milky blue green to the bluest blue imaginable. The vegetation is cactus, gorse, and not much of it.
At one point, Antonio reached into the water and scooped out some floating ROCKS. "Pumice. Pumice." Say this like: poo-me-chay. It just had not registered with me yet that the major industry here is pumice, and that the pebbles that get loose are going to float, but there they were. The pumice here is pale grey, too, and that threw me off. The white foam in the water in this photo camouflages the pumice. You can replicate my experience looking at the photo, because you won't see any pumice, either:


I also noticed that he reached into a school of medusa--jellyfish--to retrieve the pumice, but he was not stung. He has loved here all his life, fishing, and taking tourists out to see places that cannot be seen from anywhere but the water. The volcanic pile is so steep and so inconsistent that it cannot be hiked or climbed, and the boat is the only way. Antonio is tan-burned deeply, and the back of his neck below salt and pepper hair is just redder than chestnut, a color like I have never seen before. He knows full well how beautiful his home island is, and is happy for the tranquility of post-tourist season. He carries a cell phone.


Out near the stacks of rock, he asked us if we wanted to swim. Dan rose to the challenge, but I did not have that pesky bathing costume, and frankly, since we'd left all our clothes to be washed, my underthings were not decent enough to pass for such, so I demurred. He went down the ladder in his blue silky drawers (his last and least favorite pair of undies, too), and lost his breath from the shock of it.



The water is cooler than it looks, and very salty, almost thick. The pumice dust makes it a little milky. Then, for a photo and despite the cold, Dan came out and dove BACK in so that I could capture the moment in digital:




I got it on the first try! Cold, but well worth it, and I am jealous, but I just did not want to be the talk of the fisherman's local bar scene, which might go something like: "You should have seen this lady--woof--American tourists seem to be so well off, but can't they afford underwear?"

It's a good thing that only after we were well into the trip back to port that Dan figured out that I was pointing to the medusas, and there were scads of them, though I didn't see any near the rocks where he had taken the dive.

The only other scary wildlife we've seen was just as we left Tuscany. I lifted up the bag I had packed the night before from the stone floor of the farmhouse and a cold, slow SCORPION about 2" long crawled out and headed away from the light. Fortunately, I'd already had my coffee, and I was quicker than he was, and despatched him with one of my Keens. Dan's now checking his shoes every day before putting them on. (He couldn't even look at a lake after seeing Jaws.)

Anyhoo, I see sun outside, so it may be time to see if there is another ferry to Vulcano. This is a view of Vulcano from the high road on Lipari Island. In the water below, you can see the funiculare, the site of Dan's historic dive.


Cannot wait to be irradiated!!!

In other news, Grandma has a new black Jetta! I called Tim and about all I got out of him is that he is "fine." Dan's tooth is perfect.

3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well, here I am again. Jim tells me I can be "other". So if I can remember to use that section, I won't need any help from Jim when I respond to your blog.You are missing lots of rain, so feel very good about being away from Seattle! Jack Palance died and so did Ed Bradley from 60 minutes. I'm sure you would want to know. Oh and Rumsfeld RESIGNED, the Dems got control of Senate and House. So you can come back home happy now.

7:47 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am not quite sure what it means that Rummy resigned. Jenny is right - we really are nearing a record for measured rainfall at Seatac for this time of year. Mitchell and I just got your postcards (at our new house!) - I want to send something back but have no way to do so! We miss you - I can't wait to hear about all of your adventures...

4:10 PM  
Blogger Dorothy Neville said...

do y'all have a ride home from the airport? I know it is not for another couple weeks, but we miss you and are looking forward to your return. in the meantime, keep enjoying your trip!

12:35 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home