Hello from Sicily – Exploring Lipari
and a Sicilian Seafood Dinner in Salina
My first afternoon and night on a
sailboat had gone surprisingly well. After our little late night
excursion into the town of Lipari I had slept like a stone, only
to awake this morning at about 8 am to see in daylight what the
island of Lipari actually looks like. So I peeked my head out of
the sailboat and I saw it was an absolutely gorgeous day! Blue,
sunny skies, not a cloud to be seen. Perfect for exploring Lipari,
the capital of the Eolian island of the same name.
Our
skipper was up already while my three other co-travellers were
still resting. Francesco and I each grabbed a little snack from
our plentiful stash below deck, sat down and enjoyed the gorgeous
ambience. We were surrounded by dozens of boats, mostly sailboats,
some power boats, and a few of them rather imposing yachts, while
towards the land we saw a number of local fishing boats tied up
and fishermen straighten out their nets.
View of the sailboat harbour of Lipari
I mentioned to Francesco that the experience on this sailboat and
in Sicily in general is so different from our hurried, frenetic
pace in our North American urban centres. I added that it was an
extremely welcome change from my usual routine. The rhythm of life
is definitely slower here, and people appear to have different,
simpler priorities: they focus on their friends and family, and
eating good food, drinking good wine, and enjoying life, every day.
Our skipper himself, authentically Sicilian, also radiated a profound
sense of calm and contentedness.
Our skipper Francesco
Around 10 am I was ready to start exploring and started my walk
towards downtown Lipari. The half-hour walk along a busy road is
very scenic, with mountains on one side and the sea on the other,
and the hilltop fortification of the town of Lipari beckoning in
the distance. On my way into town I saw a scooter rental place,
and at 15 Euros per day I was very tempted to rent one for a couple
of hours. Instead I decided to get a bit of exercise and continue
my walk into town.
Fishing boats
With about 11,000 residents, Lipari is the largest and most populous
island in the 7-island Eolian archipelago. It is an extremely popular
tourist destination: during the summer the population swells to
over 200,000 people. It is a vibrant commercial centre and active
ferry boat harbour. I strolled into town on one of the main streets
which was full of retail stores, vegetable and fruit stands and
a variety of restaurants.
The municipal offices of Lipari
A fairly steep cobble-stoned street pointed up toward a hill,
so I followed it and arrived at the fortification of the town of
Lipari which has a long and convoluted history. Inhabited from at
least 5000 BC, the island has been ruled by successive waves of
Greeks, Carthaginians, Etruscans, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Saracens,
Normans, Hohenstaufen, Angevins and Aragonese. The imposing city
walls were built by the Spanish on top of an ancient Greek acropolis
in the mid 1500s. Within the walls of the fortification is an imposing
cathedral, an old castle, excavations of an ancient Greek settlement
as well as the Museo Archeologico Eoliano.
Archeological zone in Lipari
A long set of steps leads up from the lower level of town to the
Cathedral and on a small patch of grass beside the steps an old
local man had set up shop to sell a variety of handcrafted doilies
as well as volcanic stones such as pumice and obsidian which both
occur naturally on this island.
Nonno Dorino and his doilies
I came up to him to see what he had for sale and he introduced
himself as “Nonno Dorino” (“Grandpa Dorino”)
and told me that he crochets all the doilies himself. Quite charmingly
he engaged me in a conversation and I ended up purchasing two of
the crocheted masterpieces from him. Along the way he showed me
a picture of his granddaughter and gave me free samples of each
type of volcanic stone. I always love interactions with the locals,
and Nonno Dorino was a real character. He definitely knows how to
charm the tourists.
The Cathedral of Lipari
I descended the steps from the cathedral and took a left turn which
took me into the second harbour of Lipari, Marina Corta, which features
a large square with a view up to the fortress and a variety of outdoor
cafes with beautiful patios. Today there was a large group of children
on bicycles, accompanied by various local police people. It looked
like a special bicycling event and drew spectators among the locals
and the tourists.
Marina Corta
A small chapel is located at the southern end of the piazza and
narrow streets with various retail stores lead up to different parts
of town. On my stroll on this sunny day I explored some of these
side streets and found tight but neatly kept living quarters, children
playing in the street, cats and dogs lazing in the sun, and many
older ladies sweeping the pavement in front of their houses.
looking south from Marina Corta
On my back to the ferry boat harbour I connected with Herbert,
one of my travel mates, and we walked back to the ship together.
Around 2 pm we were ready to leave Lipari and we started chugging
out of the harbour and our captain set the sails once we were in
the open water.
Cat and madonna
We travelled next to the coast of Lipari and arrived at the next
bay which featured a town that hugged the coastline and sprawled
up into the hills, and looking further north a huge section of the
island consisted of white stone. Francesco, our captain, explained
that this stone is pumice, a white porous stone of volcanic origin.
Pumice quarries
We anchored the boat in the bay in front of the pumice quarries,
some of which had been shut down several decades ago and continued
to exist as industrial ruins. Claudia, Francesco and Lorenzo took
a dip in the still rather frigid Mediterranean waters. The temperature
could not have been much higher than 18 degrees, and as a real wuss,
my policy is to only go swimming if the water temperature is above
28 degrees. So for me it was a no go, but my shipmates enjoyed the
brief, yet refreshing dip. We also saw a jellyfish, aptly called
“medusa” in Italian. These animals are apparently more
common when the water is cooler and are seen less during the summer
months.
Looking back at Lipari
Towards 6 pm we reached the next island called Salina, an island
that used to be called “didyme” (“twins”)
by the ancient Greeks, due to its two major mountains, Fossa delle
Felci (altitude 962 m) and Monte dei Porri (860 m). We arrived in
the main village of Santa Marina, which features a large pleasure
boat harbour. Two other main villages exist on this island: Malfa
and Leni, and the total population is about a couple of thousand
people.
Church in Santa Marina di Salina
My friend Herbert and I went on a little exploration of the town
on foot. Santa Marina is essentially composed of two streets that
run parallel to the coastline, the Via Lungomare Giuffré
right next to the waterfront and parallel to that the Via Risorgimento,
further inland. The town features a larger church on Via Risorgimento,
and a smaller chapel on a square right next to the harbour. Activity
around the main square is quite lively, with several restaurants,
ice cream and street vendors.
Harbour of Santa Marina di Salina
Since we were going to meet for dinner at 8 pm, I headed back early
to actually grab a shower – on land! The sailboat harbour
of Santa Marina actually features a comfort station with modern
shower and washroom facilities. And since I was still squeamish
about using the tiny on-board toilet/shower combination room I couldn’t
wait to actually jump into a real shower. When you occasionally
take yourself out of your regular comfort zone, you realize how
treasured simple things like a real warm shower can become. I thoroughly
enjoyed my land-based cleansing ritual and got dressed up for dinner.
Dark clouds hang over Santa Marina
Francesco took us to a local restaurant on the main street called
“Nni Lausta” (http://www.isolasalina.com/default_eng.htm
- Sicilian dialect for “lobster”), a highly renowned
local seafood restaurant which is even listed in the Michelin Guide.
Our skipper had made arrangements with Fabio, the restaurant’s
owner, to produce a real multi-course Sicilian meal for our group.
Fabio himself had spent some time in the United States and also
owns a restaurant in the north of Italy, obviously an accomplished
restaurant entrepreneur.
Our first dinner at Nni Lausta
We settled in and our meals started to arrive. Fabio’s sister,
Sabina Giuffré, owner of a local bed and breakfast, also
dropped by, and she recognized Lorenzo, who had visited the island
about 12 years ago and met Sabina at that time. For Lorenzo, this
was a real home-coming, a back-to-his-roots kind of experience,
to return to the small island that his paternal grandparents had
left in 1910. He had already walked through the whole town of Santa
Marina, chatted and connected or reconnected with many of the locals,
and despite his limited Italian skills, he was not shy to talk to
anyone.
A fishy appetizer
Sabina and Lorenzo commented on the fact that almost everyone in
town seemed to be named “Giuffré”, indeed a popular
name that seems to date back to Catalan settlers centuries ago.
Indeed a website about Sicilian surnames indicates that “Giuffré”
is the most popular last name in the town of Santa Marina. It was
great to see this man from Boston, a Catholic priest no less, reconnect
with his family’s roots and have such a great time.
The first course of our dinner was ready to arrive: each of us
received five different types of morsels of fish on an oblong plate
which included tuna, mackerel and anchovies. One of the dishes was
called “tartan di tonno” which meant it was raw fish.
The group loved the appetizer, me not so much because I am not a
fish eater in general. Unfortunately the wonderful world of seafood
in Sicily is totally lost on me.
Sicilian delicacies
But, I said to myself, you are going to try each of these dishes.
At least I gave it a shot and I decided to open my mind. So I did
try all five varieties of fish and there were two that seemed semi-pleasant
to my palate. The rest of the group was rather shocked to find out
that I don’t eat fish, but happily obliged and cleaned up
the remainder of my appetizer. Nothing will go to waste here!
The "scorfano" after the big feast
The meal continued with two different types of pasta: “battarga
di tonno” (with tuna), and “pasta verdure di stagione”
(vegetarian), which was a very pleasant dish. The main dish was
a big whole fish for the entire group: “scorfano” which
I believe translates as “hogfish”. It was a big, mean
yet aesthetic looking fish and definitely sufficient to feed an
entire group of four people. My main dish was a pasta dish with
eggplant which was followed by a lemon ice cream dessert for everyone.
A glass of local “malvasia” (malmsey) wine followed
and a few of my shipmates also had a grappa for good digestion.
A real Sicilian meal definitely consists of many courses, always
features wine and fish, and probably a glass of liquor to cap it
all off.
Sicilian flower power
After this extensive culinary experience we headed back to the
boat and sat up chatting until 2 am. Time to rest up for a new
day of adventures….
