Everything seemed peaceful and quiet when something we drove through from a distance looked like a huge muddy molehill.
The only reminder is that this is (and is) an active volcano.
At this point, there is an all-round burst – not from the heights but from me.
For an Italian patrol boat suddenly appeared in nowhere to be out of place, ordered us to stop and lower the sails, and then threatened me to be arrested unless I coughed £270-Planto.
During my years of traveling in Europe, I got a weird parking ticket, a speeding ticket.
But I was never arrested on the steering wheel of the boat (especially one swung at a jogging speed).
mine crimeHowever, its voyage is too close to the west coast of Strongboli, the farthest in Sicily’s Wind Islands.
Named after gloriously named Stloboli (sounds like a circus or ice cream), 500 people live on a volcanic hillside spitting and splashing year-round, and the ferry ride attracts steady tourists.
Robert Hardman visited the Windy Islands of Sicily. The picture shows Vulcano located 20 kilometers north of Sicily, at the southernmost end of the risk islands
As shown in the picture, Stroboli is located north of Sicily and is one of the four active volcanoes in Italy.
A few weeks before our arrival, a particularly violent launch spewed out rocks and larvae on the uninhabited side of the island, so the temporary two-mile exclusion zone on the shore.
Obviously no big deal, as there was no warning sign, we sailed on an Italian patrol boat half an hour ago, waving to the crew as they sat at the anchor for lunch.
They easily reminded us with a horn, but would rather wait and watch until we enter their unpredictable area and then open toward the fine.
All our protests shrugged with the Sicilians.
It was the only glitter of the only glorious week among these seven dramatic islands, about 20 miles above Sicily.
They are less well known (less) than the islands in Greece or Croatia, and they are each very different.
Ultra-Chic Panarea attracts celebrities in their superyachts. When smart crowds come ashore for cocktails, you can enjoy some great early view of people.
Our favorite is Lush Salina, whose vineyards and small fishermen’s huts were cut into the cliff face of Pollara, the most beautiful place in our entire voyage. Some people, like Filicudi, are almost uninhabited (this is a high-security prison for the mafia in the seventies). As you would expect, Vulcano has an active crater like Stromboli, casting out of synced sulfur on its tree-shaded shores and beautiful small restaurants.
Panarea was very popular among artists and intellectuals in the 1960s. It is the smallest and oldest archipelago in the wind
Salina is the second largest island in the Wind Islands. It is famous for making sweet malvas wines
The best way to enjoy all of this easily is from your own boat. Renting a yacht for a week is no more expensive than a villa or hotel, and apart from the daily view changes, you can jump directly from your bed into waters as pure as the Mediterranean.
The best way to enjoy all of this easily is from your own boat. Renting a yacht for a week is no more expensive than a villa or hotel, and apart from the daily view changes, you can jump directly from your bed into waters as pure as the Mediterranean.
We hire through Borrowaboat, and they have a budget database of 50,000 ships worldwide. We wanted something for me and my wife, plus two 15 and 12 year olds, plus three family friends for a week.
For £750 per night, you can rent a boat like our Oceanis 48, which has four double cabins, three toilets (with shower) and a useful double-storey room for additional storage. BorrowaBoat will also offer a captain, an additional £170 a day. Since I’m a sailor, we didn’t use one (although we had it, local expertise might save us from a £270 fine).
Our kitchen (kitchen) includes a decent refrigerator with plenty of room for drinks and ice. Our daily routine is to have a leisurely breakfast and swim, then sail (or drive) to Shelter Bay for a few hours for a long lunch. In the blink of the button, the yacht’s beams fold back to create a spacious bathing platform with a very useful deck shower.
On a few nights we would find a quiet bay and cook on the boat. Otherwise we will spend the night in a village and near motorcycles to a restaurant in the dinghy.
The larger towns have marinas with marinas that charge crazy fees for overnight berths (one wants £200), while others will try to charge you £60 just to kidnap buoys. Unless the weather is bad, avoid all and then put down the anchor every night as we did.
You do feel like you are in a series of islands that appear in the greatest works in Greek and Latin – Homer’s Odyssey and Virgil’s Enid.
Robert and his family hired yachts from borrowaboat.com. You can choose to hire your own captain to sail, paying an additional £170 a day
After putting the boat back to Sicily, we stayed on dry land for a few days and then took a plane from Catania.
I don’t remember any place on Earth that is better than the cliff-long Roman Amphitheater in Taormina.
Then we walked to the great hotel era in Belmond and had lunch on the terrace with its own terrace in literary history. After his wife ran away with the local Ule child driver, DH Lawrence began writing about Mrs. Chatley’s lover.
Borrowaboat Offers seven nights, three-home, three-car yachts (six sleeps) for seven nights, priced at £3,500 (Borrowaboat.com, 020 3318 3641). EasyJet flies from Luton to Catania every day, paying back from £234.