Something we did not do on our 2011 visit to Sicily was to take the cruise out to the Aeolian Islands, specifically to the volcano Stromboli. Visiting Stromboli has since been high on our Sicilian priority list, and we were not on the big island more than a few hours before Vicki booked us on the next day's cruise. It is a long day's undertaking, pushing off at noon and not returning until 11, with two several-hour stops ashore at both Panarea and at Stromboli. These waters are studded with many lesser islands, about as rocky and jagged as one can imagine, and the cruise takes several of these in as well. We took something like 400 pix--it was a pretty action-packed 11 hours--and I'll try to edit them them down to 4 posts.
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Panarea and Stromboli are 20-30 miles off the coast, I'd guess;
upper right of the helpful map |
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| Boarding the Eolian Princess in the port of Milazzo |
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Eolian Princess; about a hundred passengers, mostly Italian, a
sprinkling of French, German, and English; and us |
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| Departing Milazzo |
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| Leaving the big island behind |
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| Stromboli ahead |
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| We got us a convoy |
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| Passing by the larger Aeolian Isles |
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Nearing the small island of Panarea, where the cruise landed for
exploration, shopping, lunch |
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| Stromboli and some of the little islands/sea-stacks |
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| Among the uninhabited isles |
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| Approaching Panarea |
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The Tyrrhenian/Mediterranean is a gorgeous cobalt here, but
utterly clear in the shallows |
