One night in Salina (Aeolian Islands - Sicily)
Discovering the greenest Aeolian Island
Piero: Hi Alberto, here we are again!
Alberto: of course, I promised you I would take you with me around Sicily ...
Angela: how nice! Where do we go this time?
Alberto: I'll give you a clue ... we were in Milazzo and we will not go far from there. However, you won't be able to use your legendary van. You will need to take the hydrofoil!
Piero: it's easy then, we’re going to one of the wonderful islands of the Aeolian archipelago that you can see from Milazzo.
Angela: I only know a few of them.
Alberto: the Aeolian Islands are seven: Lipari, Vulcano, Salina, Panarea, Stromboli, Alicudi and Filicudi.
Piero: and which one will you tell us about?
Angela: come on, Alberto don't leave us on our toes. At least give us another clue.
Alberto: I can only tell you that this island has the tallest mountain of all the Aeolian Islands, about 962 meters, and I reached the top of it walking.
Piero: Let me think about it ... I'd say Stromboli!
Alberto: you didn't go very far. Stromboli is 924 meters high and it has the second tallest mountain (an active volcano, but I will talk about it some other time).
Angela: so… Salina!
Alberto: exactly. Pack comfortable shoes, swimwear, hats and sunscreen. The appointment is at the port of Milazzo to take the hydrofoil that will take us to Salina!
Piero: the ride from Milazzo to Salina takes about an hour and a half and the cost of the hydrofoil is not exactly cheap even if it is worth it for the destination. There is also a ferry boat, but it is very slow.
Alberto: Salina is an ancient volcanic island. The peculiarity is to have two mountains, also ancient volcanoes, one next to the other: Mount Fossa delle Felci, the tallest in the archipelago, and Mount dei Porri. From these two extinct volcanoes, seen from the north-east, derives its ancient ancient Greek name Didỳmē (from the Greek dìdymos, "twin"). The current name derives from a small lake in the village of Lingua, from which salt was extracted.
Visiting Salina main town: Santa Marina Salina
Angela: here we are then! What is the name of this town?
Alberto: we dock in Santa Marina Salina. There are two small ports in Salina: one, which is also the main one, it is in Santa Marina; the other one is located in Rinella, the village with black sand.
Angela: is the island big?
Alberto: well, bear in mind that in less than a couple of hours by car you can tour all the main villages of the island. It is not very big but we are on the second largest island of the archipelago. It has only 2,300 inhabitants.
Piero: I imagine that renting a car is essential.
Alberto: not necessarily. The first time I was there, I rented a villa with friends in Santa Marina and, to visit the other places, we moved by bus or taxi. Of course, for those who have kids and want to go around, I definitely recommend renting a car.
Angela: so I guess it's the first thing to do: how do you suggest to proceed?
Alberto: I must say that, as in many typically summer tourist places, renting a car is a bit of an adventure. You have to be careful with prices, check the condition of the car well to avoid surprises upon delivery ... it is certainly better to plan everything before arriving on the island to avoid waiting or worse, not finding availability.
Piero: thanks for the advice. What do you do in Santa Marina?
Alberto: during summer it is very active. There are events every evening, delicious restaurants, ice cream shops, bars, souvenirs shops ...
Angela: do you recommend any restaurants?
Alberto: I perfectly remember the Trattoria Cucinotta, which is located in the main street where there are all the shops. Apart from the location, with its wonderful veranda overlooking the sea and the island of Lipari, you should try the homemade squid ragù. Delicious.
Angela: yum! Marked on the list ...
Piero: what else would you recommend us to do?
Alberto: in the western part of the town, in a place called Serro dell’Acqua, it is possible to walk a path that leads, through a vegetation of olive trees and fruit trees, to the Saracen Caves.
Angela: what is that?
Alberto: they are caves dug into the tuff and hidden by dense vegetation, used as a refuge to escape the atrocious barbarity committed by the Saracens around 650 AD. They are made up of several communicating rooms inside which the cross engravings and numerous votive signs are still visible today.
Piero: very interesting! In Salina the Malvasia sweet wine is produced. What do you tell me?
Alberto: Salina is quite a fertile island, you cannot avoid to admire the vineyards. The Malvasia, as you mentioned is a sweet wine with a delicious flavour. It is obtained by drying and subsequently pressing the grapes produced by local vineyards. This is only the main of the other wines produced on the island: even if not from native vines, excellent white and red wines, both still and sparkling, are also produced. Because the island, as mentioned, is very fertile, there are also other crops. The other typical product of the island is the caper obtained from the flower of the plant of the same name: in Salina a particular, much larger caper is produced, the "cucunci".
Piero: wow! Where are you taking us now?
Alberto: we move to Lingua, a small village, which is about 10 minutes away by car. It is probably the place I have visited most often.
Angela: I guess it is because there is something good to eat.
Alberto: you know me ... in Lingua there is "Da Alfredo". I put it in my top 5 of Sicilian bars. Believe me, I've tried many bars ...
Piero: but it's just a bar!
Alberto: for us Sicilians the bar is part of the culture, it is a meeting place where of course we drink coffee but above all we eat his majesty the granita!
Angela: now I understand.
Alberto: and that's not all, at Alfredo's you must also try the typical dish for lunch or dinner: “u pani cunzatu”, which is a stuffed bread. It is a reinterpretation of an ancient recipe of fishermen who in the evening prepared a salad with the available ingredients - oil, capers, olives and basil - accompanied with toasted bread. Mr. Alfredo, with his sons, today prepare a loaf of homemade bread, toast it and dress it in all possible and imaginable ways. Clearly the advice is to try it with the typical local products.
Piero: it sounds like a tasteful dish!
Alberto: despite its extreme simplicity, it absolutely is. Probably what makes you appreciate it more is also the context of the restaurant and the square in front of it overlooking the sea. A practical tip: if you stop for lunch and don't want to weigh yourself down too much, just order half of it.
Angela: thanks. Is there any lighthouse on the island? You know how much I like them ...
Alberto: well, there is one a few hundred meters from the bar.
Off to Pollara: Troisi’s “The Postman” village
Piero: where are you taking us now?
Alberto: let's go to the other side of the island; you probably have already heard of it because of the cult Italian masterpiece movie “The Postman”.
Piero: it's true! The Pollara House is the only place, beyond Procida, where Massimo Troisi shot his last movie in 1994.
Alberto: exactly, but the place I would like to show you is the Pollara Beach. The name is misleading, there is no sand but large stones among the rocks. The space is a bit small, but this is what makes it unique and intimate, set within an amphitheater-shaped cliff. To get there you have to take a steep but beautiful path. On the way back, maybe we will struggle a little, but it will be worth it.
Angela: not a smart choice if you have kids ...
Alberto: it's not comfortable to spend the whole day there, but it's absolutely worth a visit.
Hiking on Monte Fossa delle Felci
Piero: you told us that you walked to the top of the Salina mountain?
Alberto: that's right. The path to the top of Monte Fossa delle Felci is a real adventure. Clearly, this cannot be done by organizing a day trip to the island. It is necessary to stay at least one night and that's exactly what we did: we woke up at 3am and we left around 4am to get to the top in time to see the sunrise and of course to avoid walking for several hours under the summer heat.
Angela: what did you do then?
Alberto: once in the car, we drove towards the valley from which the walk begins. It is still dark.
Piero: I hope you brought some torches ...
Alberto: no, but luckily we had the flashes of our phones. Try to visualize walking in the the woods and it is completely dark.
Angela: I imagine that for the hikers, this is not a big problem… they are more organized, understand what surrounds them and have the right tools.
Alberto: right! But we’re not hikers and we didn't have everything we needed ...
Piero: so how did you go on?
Alberto: we kept walking and every now and then we stopped to ask ourselves if we wanted to continue or go back. Every noise we heard in the trees, the recurring thought was "who made me do it?". In the end, however, pride prevailed: we had to succeed!
Angela: how did the walk go?
Alberto: I must tell you that, even if at times tiring, it was fantastic. The other thing that unfortunately we had not calculated was the humidity: in addition to making us sweat a lot, the morning mist, in fact, at the top, prevented us from seeing the view. However, it was a wonderful experience that I would absolutely do again.
Piero: how long did it take to reach the top?
Alberto: about 2 and a half hours for the ascent and an hour and a half for the descent. I still remember that while we were returning to the valley, we met the first hikers who asked us why we were going back. Every time we had to explain that we had left very early in the morning, that we had reached the top and that we were going to enjoy a nice granita and a swim in the sea.
Piero: are you already organizing other hikes?
Alberto: I would love to hike Stromboli … I hope to do that this summer.
Angela: wonderful! We can't wait to visit you in Sicily.
Rinella: the black sand village
Piero: you haven't told us everything yet: there's still Rinella!
Alberto: exactly. Rinella is famous, as I said, for its black sand beach, a destination especially for families and children who want to enjoy an easy access to the sea.
Angela: exactly what we need!
Alberto: that's right. The beach is located right in front of the seaside village and this gives it a unique physiognomy. Around the beach there are also numerous bars and restaurants that allow you to taste the various delicacies of the island.
Piero: it is a wonderful island. There are other six others ... how many have you visited?
Alberto: I set foot, for a short time, on all the islands except Stromboli. That’s the reason why I want to organize a nice excursion there.
Angela: with your drone I guess ...
Piero: not only! The DSLR, the lenses, the camera… an entire backpack dedicated to our great passion. Is that true Alberto?
Alberto: I usually travel a little lighter than you, but the passion is the same. Piero, when you have time we should discuss our backpacks and what we usually put inside them for our travels!
Piero: great idea!
Angela: oh gosh… you think about the backpacks, I think about organizing the next trip!
Alberto: the next story, then.
Piero: bye Alberto, see you next time!
Alberto: take a look at all the images, click HERE and watch this wonderful video!
