The Sea Gods were smiling on us last night as the stormy seas that had been predicted did not materialize and at dawn the ship was positioned at the southern end of the Straits of Messina. Everyone was on deck as the Caledonian Star steamed through the boiling whirlpools mid-channel, while the local ferries darted back and forth across the two-mile wide stretch of water between the cities of Messina on the Sicilian side and Reggio in Calabria on the mainland. The strong currents pull the warmer waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea into the Ionian Sea, which is saltier and colder, creating massive whirlpools that the ancients attributed to the sweet songs of the Sirens - the original occupants of this mythical, mist-laden landscape. These temptresses from the deep were credited with bewitching sailors and destroying heavily laden merchant ships that dared to enter this dangerous stretch of water. In a world that was governed by machinations of mythical gods, many sailors believed that this stretch of water was also inhabited by the horrible monsters, Scylla and Charybdis - who swallowed up any hapless mariners that sailed too close to the rocks. Homer's hero, Odysseus, was the most famous survivor of this still hazardous stretch of water.
We relaxed in our deckchairs, books at the ready, for a glorious morning at sea while we cruised north towards Lipari Island, the largest of the Aeolian Island group. We dropped anchor off the Norman castello and our fleet of Zodiacs whisked us to shore in this remote Italian paradise. Two local buses took us on a 90-minute circumnavigation of Lipari, stopping briefly at four cliff-top vantage points that afforded us spectacular views of the six neighboring islands, which seemed to float weightlessly in the thickening heat haze of mid-afternoon. A gelateria was the feature of the third stop, while a tour of the archaeological museum in the castello, high above the village of Lipari, was the final stop.
The evening ended with a brilliant full moon slowly rising over the island of Stromboli. Everyone was on deck after dinner to watch the fireworks emanating from this still active volcano. Steam cascaded down the gullies, spilling out over the silvery moonlit sea and every 20-30 minutes the volcano erupted in a stunning fireworks display of psychedelic sprays of fiery red and orange lava. A memorable end to a day spent full of exploration.
