Stromboli: the energy of the nature
filled by Giulia & Romeo
By whatever transport you choose to reach Stromboli, the last part of your journey will be the same for everybody, by ferry or hydrofoil. It is from the sea that you will have the first view of the island: first a dot far away, then closer and larger, will come to seem like a huge animal in a crouching position, a harmless and quiet animal but incredibly alive. Because the smoke that you will see on the top just far away, and which immediately turns into light clouds, making the island alive and almost breathing. And getting off the ferry you will feel to be arrived in a truly unique place where to dominate are the harmony and beauty of nature with no artificial colors. No coincidence that in 2000 the Aeolian archipelago was declared Cultural Heritage of Humanity: Stromboli with Alicudi, Filicudi, Lipari, Panarea, Salina and Vulcano. The colors from which you will be immediately surrounded are the white of the houses and the black of the sand, which are diluted as in a palette with the yellow of the gorses and lemons, the red f of the flowers, the green and brown of the hill, all the nuances of blue sky and the red of the fire "Iddu", the volcano that every night presents its show to tourists and locals. Every day at about six in the afternoon, the agencies of the village are organizing guided trips to see the volcano closely as possible. For the less active the show can be enjoyed every evening at the Pizzeria of the Observatory , located just below the “Sciara del Fuoco” and is reached by a pleasant walk along the sea in about half an hour. Small explosions, the crackling of the lava that rolls down to the sea ... is a show that you will see and you will hear , just as in the theater. The explosions and the bright red of the fire have something of primordial. The volcano, which the ancients called the Tyrrhenian lighthouse because is seen from the Tyrrhenian coast of Calabria, has twin peaks rising up to 927 m above sea level. What we see is only the emerged part of a massive volcano of 3000 meters high, whose total volume is 25 times larger than the topside. The island's 400 inhabitants are distributed in the towns of Ficogrande, Piscità, San Vincenzo and Ginostra, this last one reached only by sea. Ginostra is a charming little village of 30 inhabitants, definitely not a tourist place, that holds a record for the smallest port in the world. After being abandoned for many centuries, Stromboli is back to being assiduously occupied by the second half of the ‘900, thanks to the publicity that made the film by Rossellini "Stromboli land of God", with Ingrid Bergman. Even today there are plaques and photos on the island who remember the episodes of film work, and in the main square of Stromboli the most famous bar is ” bar Ingrid”. A walk in the morning to the Church of St. Vincent, a dip in the sea in an unusual dark water that reflects the black sand, a little shopping in the shops near the church, a look at the sea from the terrace on top of the village , a “granite” with whipped cream, a pizza in the evening at the observatory to enjoy the fire show sitting quietly, the show that has the force and energy of nature, and finally Strombolicchio, just in front of you, like a Gothic castle peeking out of the sea, and that keeps you company along with the continuous mutterings of Iddu.
The days in Stromboli are so ... they are flying in in the magical unreality of a place still far away from civilization.
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