GALLERY A cruise passenger’s “postcards”: greetings and kisses from Panarea

Our Adriano Gatta is roaming by boat from Trapani to Stromboli, among the islands and along the northern coast of Sicily. And he has decided to send us (and send you), as he continues his journey, “souvenir postcards” on which are pinned, in addition to the classic “greetings and kisses,” useful news, places not to be missed, more or less valid rade or Marina, periods in which it is better to go or not to go, in short, the good and the “bad” of this stretch of coast. Because, he explains, “as Seneca wrote: Nullius boni sine socio jucunda possessio est: no thing is beautiful to possess unless one has friends to share it with.”

HERE THE FIRST POSTCARD FROM MARETTIMO

HERE THE SECOND POSTCARD FROM FILICUDI

GREETINGS AND KISSES FROM…

Hello, we are well and so we hope for you…..
…It used to be written that way on the postcard you sent to your friends; it sounds trivial, but here in Panarea there is nothing trivial…or maybe it’s all very trivial…it depends on your point of view.

It seems a platitude to say that when you walk through the narrow streets of this beautiful little island. (the smallest and oldest of all the Aeolian Islands), it feels like being on the set of the Vanzina brothers’ movie of the same name, but like it or not Panarea, at least in July and August, is so…..get over it….and decide when and how you want to see it.

For me, the ideal time of year is in spring, when nature is at its best with a riot of blooms: first and foremost the yellow of the brooms, but also the white and green of the myrtle with its fragrance or the delicate lilac of the Heather….. But back to our Postcard.

Panarea, with its microarchipelago of islets (referred to by some as the eighth island of the Aeolian Islands), Basiluzzo, Dattilo, Liscabianca, with the sulfur beach and Liscanera,Bottaro is, like all the other islands, of volcanic origin but, in its case, the crater is underwater and the edges are precisely the island and islets around it.

In numerous places, eruptive activity continues. On the northeastern side of the island, on the Calcara beach, it is still possible to glimpse fumaroles of vapors rising from cracks between the rocks (with striking sulfurous colors), the last traces of volcanic activity with temperatures of up to 100 °C. Other underwater eruptive phenomena are evident in the seething waters between Bottaro islet and Lisca Bianca.

We gave ourselves two days, during which we wandered among the beautiful vacation homes, paid a visit to the remains of the Bronze Age village of Punta Milazzese beyond which you can see the giollino(excluded at mid-August) of cala Junco (beware you can only give bottom beyond the imaginary line that delimits the bay), got tickled by the sulfur bubbles and lustrated our eyes admiring the splendid vintage sailboats, which frequent this island.

N.B. If you go to the gas station, be careful:
2mt backdrop. or thereabouts, squeezed between fishing boats, semi-submerged sharp-edged wall and not even a measly truck tire to act as a fender. If you then need water, go there with empty tanks; a full tank always costs cm. 30 € whether you do a 10-liter or a 300-liter top-up…..crazy….seems like a “Chinas” for the rest… Good Wind and…

Greetings and kisses……..Adriano

WHO IS ADRIANO GATTA
Adriano Gatta, Brescia DOC, class of 1956, free-rider, mountaineer, former judo national team member, photography enthusiast (the photos accompanying the story are his). We have already brought you, among others, his article in which he explained hisaconversionfrom powerboat racer to sailor.