Calabria - Page 2

Stromboli

Today we went again by bus to Tropea, but only to the port. From there we started by boat to the very active volcano Stromboli. The island belongs to the 7 main Aeolian islands and is about 30 nautical miles from the Calabrian coast, the crossing takes about 1.5 hours. It is a wonderful sight when the outline of Stromboli, about 920 m high, suddenly becomes visible on the sea, a lonely cloud enthroned above the summit. Not far away, a small uninhabited rock rises out of the sea, Strombolicchio. Here stands the lighthouse.

There are 2 places here: Stromboli with the old town of S. Vicenzo and Ginostra on the other side. We landed in Stromboli and crossed the unusual black beach of fine black lava sand. Fishing boats and all sorts of rusty monstrosities covered it. We walked through the town with its winding alleys, small boutiques and some restaurants. Most of the approximately 300 island residents live here. In other guides I had read about 500 inhabitants, no idea, what is closer now. The only fact seems to be that many young people migrate from here to the mainland. Passing the Chiesa di San Vincenzo Ferreri led our local stroll further up to the Piazza San Bartolomeo.

Only via hiking trails to the crater is still allowed higher. Since the last explosions in 2019, in which one person died, it is now forbidden to climb the Stromboli more than 400 meters high. Sometimes a moped or tricycle hummed past us. Cars don't exist here, wouldn't make sense either. The island received international attention through the movie Stromboli (1949) with Ingrid Bergman and Roberto Rossellini. Also Jules Verne's Protagonists in The Journey to the Center of the Earth end up coming out of the crater here back to the surface. Since the film the Tourism the main - source of income here, besides there are farmers, mountain guides and of course fishermen. There is no fish store, the catch is sold on the beach.

Back on board we set off for the boat ride under the Sciara del Fuoco, a slope where ejecta from the craters slide down to the sea. At night, the glow of the glowing lava can be seen from the sea. We also saw the reddish glow on the summit, sometimes brighter and sometimes darker. But for photos of my simple smartphone camera the glow was unfortunately too weak. But quiet and contemplative it was, at night on the sea, only rarely interrupted by Aah and Ooh, when the red glow at the crater rim became brighter. Back in the port of Tropea there were still some irritations, no shuttle bus wanted to take us, although booked. But even that cleared up, as always 🙂.