Lipari, Italy
We travelled 146 sea miles overnight and arrived at 8am in Lipari on the island of Lipari. We anchored in the Mediterranean. It was a warm calm day so we decided to join the Volcano Island tour for 52 Euro each.

The tour did not start until 10am so we wangled our way onto an early tender boat to shore to get a head start on Lipari. By 10 am we rushed back to the dock forgetting about the Italian pension for lateness. We joined the group coming off the tender and waited 45 minutes for the tour boat that would take us around the islands and onto Volcano Island.

The cruise around the island was beautiful and very interesting with dramatic old lava flows, landslides and even vineyards. This area is famous for its red and white dessert wines. Three quarter way around the island we stopped at the little resort town. We were taken on a 20 minute walking tour that ended in a cafe where we were given 2 scoops of gelato. The town's major fame was a natural healing mud bath. We declined the 3 Euro mud adventure and instead climbed the volcano that gave the island its name. It took a little under an hour to reach the crater. The rim was riddled with smoking sulphur vents on one side. You could walk all the way around the crater but we didn't have the time. We walked over the vent section of the rim and then walked back. It was very fumey so we held our breath when clouds wafted over us. We got back to the harbour in about 40 minutes and caught the tour boat back.

In the Lipari township we looked at the cathedral on the dock and walked through the cobbled streets to the archeological site, the museum in the old walls, the municipal building and the sea walls.

We had pizza and beer from a restaurant (Eoliana Pizza and Birra dello Stretto beer for lunch at Trattoria da Bartolo in Via Garibaldi) that promised us wifi but they turned it off after our pizza arrived. They wanted to pack up.

We poked about a bit more then ordered ice coffees from a dock site restaurant with wifi (Iced coffee at Altamarea Cafe on Via Garibaldi). We caught the tender back to our ship.

It was a very special night because we were to navigate around Stromboli the most active volcano in the chain of islands. We ate on deck watching Lipari receding and Stromboli growing.

We watched from 8-9:30pm. Stromboli is constantly erupting but it is most visible at night. We saw 2 eruptions and then went down to the Show Lounge to watch Mr Red Shoes perform. At 9:35am there was a large eruption which we missed! However we always thoroughly enjoy Claus Debusman's performances. He is a brilliant pianist and his melding of classic and rock is fabulous.
Franz Lizt, Sergei Rachmaninov and Claus Debusman play the piano a bit.