In the pub after an Ian Siegal gig, Brenda and Simon agreed to join us on a walking holiday to Sicily. After much debate, we decided to book Headwater's 'Sicily & The Aeolian Islands' self-guided holiday.
Lipari is the largest of the Aeolian Islands, and our hotel was close to the port, overlooking a lovely bay. However, the Aeolian Islands are named after the god of the winds - Aeolus. We found out why that night and had trouble sleeping because of the noise.
We landed in Catania on the Sunday evening, met Alex, the only other person on the holiday, and were driven to our first stopover - the Hotel Agathae in Catania. This was very comfortable, once we'd managed to get our bags up steep steps and an unusual lift to our rooms. We didn't need dinner, but decided to go out for a drink and ended up in a wine bar called TriBeCa - very loud music, very loud decor and very young clientèle. But fun!
On Monday morning, we took a walk around Catania, which was lovely - the highlight being the Roman theatre. We were then driven to Mazalle to catch the hydrofoil to Lipari. This was a bit too bumpy for Rosie's liking, but she survived.
Lipari is the largest of the Aeolian Islands, and our hotel was close to the port, overlooking a lovely bay. However, the Aeolian Islands are named after the god of the winds - Aeolus. We found out why that night and had trouble sleeping because of the noise.
After joining us for breakfast on the terrace, Alex joined us for the day's walk. This was supposed to start with a bus ride to the centre of the island. However, while waiting for the ticket office to open, we were offered a good deal by a taxi driver (this was Italy after all) and took it. The walk took a great route to and along the coast. At one point, we felt we need a machete to cut our way through the eucalyptus trees that were across the path. It turned out that there was a parallel, and much easier path down to the coast.
The coastal section was very dramatic, with cliffs of colours that seemed to be from a 'paint by numbers' set. We climbed steadily up to Pianoconte, where we had a very welcome granita, then descended back to Lipari town.
While the others headed back to the hotel, Rosie and I visited the castle that houses the archaeological museum to see its extensive display of Greek pots. The others pretended to be interested when we described these.
We had half-board on Lipari and again ate and had a few drinks on the hotel terrace before battening down the hatches for a good night's sleep.
While the others headed back to the hotel, Rosie and I visited the castle that houses the archaeological museum to see its extensive display of Greek pots. The others pretended to be interested when we described these.
We had half-board on Lipari and again ate and had a few drinks on the hotel terrace before battening down the hatches for a good night's sleep.
View Lipari in a larger map
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