Stromboli – Visit to the Volcano
I thought I’d write a few notes in case anyone was planning to visit Stromboli, I know one of my clients www.thewayfarers.com, does walks quite close to Stromboli in the Aeolian Islands from time to time.
So Stromboli, the connections are quite a few, we have friends who have rented a house there for the last few years, for only €700 per week (7 beds) – so what you save on accommodation you might spend on Travel… but I’m jumping the gun here.
The other connection is that we are living in house once used by Ingrid Bergman and Roberto Rossalini, who met on Stromboli while filming Stromboli in 1949, the film made both Ingrid and Rossalini’s names and they started an affair that effectively led Ingrid Bergman being exiled from America.
So with plenty of expectation and connections we set off, caught a train to Naples and headed for the docks. We were booked on the overnight ferry with a cabin for 2, I was rather expecting to sleep on the decks of this rather romantic island hopping ship on a balmy Mediterranean night as we had four small children with us. And the weather was definitely hot enough, but actually there was plenty of room in the generously sized beds for all of us… so packed and comfortable we had a smooth hassle free crossing.
In the morning we were greeted with the wonderful site of the Volcano looming up out of the mist, crowned in a cloud of smoke and mist, the volcano was quite obviously active and within seconds captivated us. Arriving was straight out of the 1960’s, only elephant trucks and the odd Vesper were around. It was just six thirty in the morning and already the heat of the day was coming on. We made it to the local breakfast bar for cafe and Cornetti all round.
The days we spent on the Island were blissful, from early morning swims to afternoon siestas – the children explored caves, the beaches were entirely made of black sand a feature of the island. Snorkelling was an essentially activity.
Being in the hands of our Italian hosts we thought we were going to be taken on a evening boating trip round to the ‘scogliere di fuoco’ (cliffs of fire) a section of the Island that lava regularly flows down. The idea was to take a trip on a boat around sunset allowing us to see the live volcano with the hope of seeing a lava flow into the sea at the bottom.
Instead however, being Italy, we were led first to the Barbablu bar, famous for it’s Blood Mary’s of all things, and then a 45 minute walk across the volcano to our restaurant that unbeknown to us overlooked the Volcano and with eruptions every 10 minutes or so it was in a great situation, good pizza, great company and altogether very Italian and very atmospheric at the same time.
The next day we rented a boat and toured the island stopping every 15 minutes or so, on a speedboat the island can be circled within about an hour. But we stopped and swan off Stromboletta (a small version of Stromboli about half a mile out), the swimming was superb, the water was extremely deep as the whole island volcano just rises up out of nothing with very sheer sides.
Picnic lunches, swims, eventually we made it around to Ginostra, the southern village that only received electricity 2 years ago. This total unspoilt village had no hotels and still used donkeys to transport goods around the steep mountain paths between the house.
Back on the boat we passed by the ‘cliffs of fire’, we heard and saw quite a few eruptions and plenty of smoke before returning to the main village and home.
Things we did not do included the walk day or night to the top of the volcano, it’s a three hour trip up the mountain and then you can see the creator and lava and watch the explosions, it is I think slightly more dramatic at night as you can see the fires and exploding lave flows more clearly against the dark. Either way it’s all highly dramatic and extremely real. None of this Mount Vesuvius stuff.
Hotels, we were very kindly recommended the Hotel Ossidiana and it looks fine, if a little spread out, but we were recommended once on the island to stay at La Sirenetta Park Hotel which was describe as more ‘chic’ to us, and indeed when we saw it it looked more romantic and Mediterranean than the slightly tourist Ossidiana, but then it probably had the price tag to match.
So lots to explore, we had a phenomenal trip, brief as it was, it was lovely and I thoroughly recommend all the Aeolian Islands for a summer holiday, they easily match the Greek Islands without the tourists, peaceful dramatic and who can really beat going to an active live volcano for a holiday!