Last Day In Sicily: Going out with a bang!

Our last day. Always hard. Extra hard knowing that we would be back to the reality of this uncertain COVID world. This trip was such a welcome distraction from everything. 

We headed to Grotto Beach and had a really nice day swimming, picnicking, and then getting granita at a beach cafe when the first rain of our trip rolled in. 

Hello Aeolian Islands! 

An afternoon back at the agriturismo, packing, swimming, and getting ready for the Sicilian night dinner.

We don't make water babies, but Maeve got brave on the last day, repeatedly jumping into Pete's arms. 

Checking on the incoming storm

Every Wednesday evening at the agriturismo is Sicilian night and it should have been held out on the terrace like the other dinners of the week, but the rain forced us inside. This night was most definitely not COVID proof. We felt that we were at an intimate wedding. The band went from table to table, clinking glasses, dancing with people, pouring from our bottles of wine. At one point, Pete had his ear fondled by the very inebriated guitar player. We had a lot of fun and then held our breath for two weeks as we awaited the symptoms of COVID, which thankfully never came. 

They kept the Syrah/Nero de Avola/whatever was in those bottles flowing!

So many Italian songs we didn't know. We were thrilled when they started playing Bella Ciao. 

It was an early, hungover start to the next day to get to the airport, 2 hours away, in time for our morning flight. The sunrise underneath the storm clouds was something else though!

I'd love to say that this rainbow was a good omen for our travel day, but it was one of the most stressful times we have had in our 6 years of travel! There was some traffic and then we couldn't find a gas station to fill up the tank of our rental car. Stressed we'd miss our flight if we kept driving in circles, we decided to deal with the penalty and just return the rental car empty. Except there wasn't anyone at the rental car return place and no one would answer any of the telephone numbers listed. We abandoned that as well and just went through the airport with Pete ducking out to drop the key at the check-in desk in the airport terminal. The check-in lady gave us a lot of grief over our carry on luggage and it was a miracle when we made it on the plane. A few weeks later we got our "Sicily tax" (AKA money for the mob) in the form of a 400 euro bill from the rental car agency for the gas, penalty for returning empty, "excessive cleaning" charge and 200 euros for damage to the car that we didn't' do, but couldn't contest since no one was at the car rental return. As annoying as that was, I would pay it again if it meant we could do this trip all over again! Sicilia Amore! 

Boat Tour of the Aeolian Islands: Panarea and Stromboli Sunset

We didn't make it to Greece this summer, but we got some major Greek vibes on our island tour of the Aeolian islands. This was our biggest outing of the trip and one we weren't sure about doing with the kids as it was nearly 12 hours long and a lot of time on the boat. A few day trips to the islands are offered from the port city of Milazzo. The Assody's opted to see Vulcano and Lipari the same day. I didn't think Maeve's sensitive nose could take a stop on the sulfuric volcano island and I really wanted to see the sunset and volcanic light show of Stromboli, one of the world's most active volcanos so we opted for the afternoon tour to Panarea and Stromboli. My mom messaged me asking us to be safe. What was she talking about? Three days after our tour, there was a large eruption on Stromboli sending tourists running down to the beach in a panic. Whoops! All was safe on this day though and it was a day we'll never forget!

Port town Milazzo

Panarea Island

Our first stop was Panarea where we had a few hours to explore. It was a very small island and the only roads were barely wide enough for two golf carts. We were all in need of treats before setting off. It was reported to be a 20-minute walk to the island's sandy beach. We set off, quickly got lost and returned to the port to hail a golf cart taxi. What a *thrilling* ride that was (video below)! 

Stromboli in the distance

Our attempts to walk were met with a good deal of resistance. 

Maeve and I rode in the back. Hold on! 

We made it to Cala Zimmari and had a fun, relaxing hour on the sandy beach. We had to hail a golf cart taxi home and the line was so long! We made it in the nick of time back to the boat before its departure, albeit with a lot of stress! The cold granita soothed all our nerves! 

Back onboard we started our sail to Stromboli. We passed some really cool rock formations, the residence of one ultra yacht and some really nice sailboats.

Earlier in the day, there appeared to be clouds over Stromboli, but as we approached it was clear that it was actually smoke. 

One side of Stromboli is green and sparsely populated. The other side is a giant landslide where the fires and lava typically fall down. The populated side has a little town and a long black sand beach. We set up shop on the beach. The kids were having a great time building with the volcanic rock (without water shoes, it was too uncomfortable to swim). Maeve got in a much-needed nap, while I read and the boys explored town, but she woke up in an absolute funk. Thankfully the return of Jude with pizza finally cheered her back up. 

Pete got the kids these souvenir t-shirts of the volcano

Explorers

Definitely Greek feels

We departed Stromboli for the third part of the trip- sailing around to the other side of the island to see the sunset and the volcanic eruptions. The kids settled in with their ipads and Pete and I had a really nice evening taking in the splendor around us. It was hard to choose where to look and which side of the ship to be on! Maeve enjoyed the sunset with me and Jude joined us to watch a few eruptions. When we encouraged him to stay for more he replied, "Nah, I'll just watch the videos you take on your phone." 

Why someone would choose to build their summer home on an active volcanic island is beyond me! 

Coming around to the rugged side of the island. 

I hope she'll grow up to be as sunset-obsessed as I am! 

It was hard to capture the little eruptions. We saw 3 or 4 like this before the boat returned back to Milazzo. 

We got home around midnight with two sleeping children. A great day!