Lipari vacanza cont.

These two photos are views from the main port in Lipari (Marina Lunga).



Ghery's girlfriend Rosaria and I on the beach in Cannetto.

(yeah, she kept teasing me for being soooooo white)

Rosario testing the pasta.

A festival in the town of Quattropani (literally: 4 breads)
(not some other name that some other people like to refer to..Brian)

This artisan is making Torrone. A treat sort of like peanut brittle only with almonds and honey..so good, especially fresh!

Ghery and Rosario on the Terrazza of the Lo Greco villa

Rob and I on the terrace of the Lo Greco Villa

These are my feet as I relax on the beach at Valle Muria...a beautiful, hidden beach that you can only get to by a fairly steep hike or boat...we love it!

(I like feet shots)

Valle Muria from the top of the final descent.

Hiking out!

A view of the walled fortress and the Castle.

Panorama of Cannetto

Some of the streets in the capitol of Lipari

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(l-r) Rob's cousin Gregorio, brother Giuseppe, and Roberto on the beach in Cannetto which is blanketed by pumice stones.

A street view of the balcony of the home of Rob's paternal grandparents.

Rob has an old photo of his grandparents in front of this very window.

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These are the streets in the town on the island where Rob's family lives. Can you say "tight"? If you haven't heard the saga from our trip with my mom and the boys, ask me about it......

Another view

Incendio! We awoke one night around 2 am smelling smoke and hearing what sounded like raindrops....it was the crackling of this forest fire that was only a football field's distance from the house! Scary. I took pictures while Rob went up the hill to see what, if anything he could do to help fight it! Pretty much, they just watch unless a home is in danger. Then get the buckets! Thankfully, no one was hurt and no homes were damaged.

The next morning we awoke to the sound of divebombing planes from the Civil Defense dept. (Protezione Civile). They would fill up with water from the ocean and dump the fire retardant as they swooped low to the ground, pretty impressive!

You can see the rings on the surface of the water where the plane skipped along to pick it up!

The same vantage point as the fire! You can see the charred brush.

Lipari-Sicilia-Italia 2009-continua

Another installment of the Lo Greco giornata dell'isola. We decided to rent mountain bikes for a day trip around the Island (about 24miles). The climb is fairly steep in parts but, the views are totally worth it. The streets are narrow and the people here are not used to many cyclists so we had to keep our eyes open and prepare for a bail out at moments notcie (luckily, we didn't have to).

The narrow streets and traffic as we leave the capitol city of Lipari.
Behind us is the Castello. Now an archaeological musuem; it was once the castle fortress of the island. It was built by the normans and the walls were reconstructed during greek rule. Within the walls are many sarcophagi and a greek theatre. Beautiful views from up there.


Behind me are the famous "faraglioni". The three rocks purportedly thrown by cyclops after Ulysses blinded him. (Trivia question: according to that epic poem, who blinded Cyclops?)

A sister island of Lipari behind us: Salina. Famous for capers, malvasia (a dessert wine) and the movie Il Postino.

A refreshing downhill with vistas of Panarea and Stromboli in the background.
Stromboli is an active volcano. We could see the plume from the eruptions everyday--hard to make out on the photo.

Lunch on the spiagga (beach) of Acquacalda. Pizza of course! The cement forms are water breaks shaped like jacks! After lunch, we took a nice little dip before heading back to return the bikes.

Our reflection in the "hidden street" mirror!

A very fun ride despite ill-fitting and very heavy, old rusty bikes! Can't beat a day of sunny cycling, lunch and a swim in the warm mediterranean waters ...more to come!