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Tuesday, July 17th, Solanto, Sicily, Italy
We've left the Aeolian Islands behind us after a lovely and mellow sojourn in Salina.  Lady luck has been with us lately when it comes to meeting locals.  It isn't always easy to find an opening to talk to folks, but when you run into anyone with a connection to the US, it is a much easier proposition.  Who would have thought that we would meet a native of Bethesda in the tiny town of Santa Marina on the island of Salina, and then, two days later, a family from Baltimore in Cefalú, Sicily?
 
  
The island of Salina, much like the whole Mediterranean, has been host to human life as far back as Neanderthal times.  The Greeks called the island Didyme (Twins) because of the twin peaks of the two largest volcanoes that formed the island hundreds of thousands of years ago.  It is very close to the other two Aeolian Islands that we have visited already: Lipari and Vulcano.  It was quite something, sitting at our anchorage off the east coast of Salina, looking at Stromboli and Panarea out to the northeast, Lipari to the south, and the towering Mount Etna on Sicily, visible against the southern horizon.
  
 
I mentioned that we had been traveling with some Badalona friends, David and Tamsin on Twice Eleven, in our last update.  They are always very industrious, following a strict regimen of working on boat projects every morning, and exploring, reading or relaxing in the afternoons.  Their latest educational undertaking is teaching themselves celestial navigation.  Joe has had his father's sextant onboard from the beginning, and eagerly enrolled himself in the course.
  
                                    
The first sun sight put them only 60 miles from their actual location!  After calibrating the instrument properly, I am sure the next one will be much closer to the mark.
 
Exploring Salina was easy with the local buses running every hour.  We stopped in Lingua to sample the famous granitas (icees) at Albertos.  For lunch, they serve pane cunzato, a pizza shaped loaf of bread, cut in half and topped with all sorts of delectable toppings including mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, eggplant, smoked mozzarella and of course, capers, which are produced locally in huge quantities. 
 
We had also heard of the famous beach in Pollara where the film Il Postino was shot.  We didn't know much about the location, but were told it was not to be missed.  Waiting in the shade for the bus off the main square,
  
  
we followed the other passengers down the road when we reached Pollara.  We weren't quite sure what to expect as the town didn't look like much of anything, and none of us could remember the movie very well.  We followed the narrow road down and around the hill and soon came to a steep walkway, interspersed with stairs.  Following it down to the sea, we stumbled upon this amazing network of shacks and concrete ramps that apparently make up a fishing community as well as a movie set.
  
Much to our regret, we had neglected to bring swim suits.  The kids are just old enough not to want to go swimming in their underwear in public so we had to suffer through their complaints and objections to our stupidity for not making sure they wore bathing suits.  When will we ever learn?
                                    
                                    
 
Still having trouble with internet access, we had the good fortune of stumbling upon AJ at the local internet point back in Santa Marina where we were anchored.  Joe was having trouble connecting to their network, when he discovered an English speaker sitting next to him who generously offered his assistance.  AJ, it turns out, is originally from Bethesda, Maryland.  His wife is Italian and her family has had property in Salina for many years, although their primary residence is in Milan.  They run an art gallery on the island, among other pursuits.  AJ spends most of his time traveling as a lighting designer, but we caught him "on holiday" working at the gallery with his step-daughter, Elettra.  Cocktails on Zia that night turned into dinner at AJ's the following night.  We were thrilled to accept the invitation, only the second time in as many years that we have been invited to someone's home for dinner on our travels. 
  
AJ is in brown next to the doorway.
 
We shared a wonderful meal of chicken and vegetable kebabs with AJ and his friend from Milan, Massimo with his twelve year-old daughter and her friend, as well as Maria and Antonia, who cooked up some wonderful chickpea patties called panelli, a regional dish from Palermo.  Of course, Twice Eleven was also invited to join the fun.  It was a real cultural exchange between all ages as we toured the 120 year old house, shared opinions on music and youth, politics and life in general.  What a wonderful experience it was for us all!  Thanks again, AJ. 
 
After nearly two weeks in the Aeolian Islands, it was time to move on.  Cenou, who had left us a week earlier, had wonderful luck with their engine repair and were ready to get back cruising again.  We set our course for Cefalú (Che-fa-LOO), 60 miles away.  It was mostly a motor, but we had a nice visit from a small school of dolphin to lift our spirits along the way.
  
 
The weather, after just a few windy days in Salina, has continued to be calm, allowing us to anchor just about anywhere we can reach the bottom.  The beach off Cefalú has a wonderfully sandy bottom and we weren't shy about dropping our hook right outside the old town. 
  
The old town of Cefalú with the huge Norman cathedral seen against La Rocca on the left of the photo.
  
The old town of Cefalú, with Zia at anchor, seen from atop La Rocca.
 
Being on mainland Sicily, we were a little nervous about theft and prepared to lock up boat and dinghy without fail.  Just as we were turning the key on the main door, a family came by in their boat asking if we were really from Annapolis.  It turns out Carmello, Laura and Francesca are from Baltimore.  They come to Cefalú every summer for two months or so.  Although they now call Baltimore their home, Carmello was born and raised until the age of 17 in one of the old homes that line the city waterfront. 
  
His mother and sister still live in Cefalú.  In fact, Carmello still knows virtually all the locals.  The commander of the Guardia Costiera is a great friend of his, as it turns out.  After the official boat made a couple of spins around Zia while she was there at anchor, it was nice to know we had someone to call in case we found ourselves in hot water with the authorities for some reason. 
  
We thoroughly enjoyed hanging with the Fertitta family for a couple of days.  We checked out the wonderful Norman cathedral, one of the main attractions of the city. 
  
                                    
The girls loved showing Francesca around the boat and helping her in the water at the beach.  What luck to hook up not only with locals from Cefalú, but locals from our hometown as well!
 
The tourist information office, when asked about anything that might be of particular interest to the kids, told us about a newly opened water park close to the Costa Verde hotel, a few miles down the coast.  After a morning hike up La Rocca, a coffee and granita in the Piazza Marina with our new friends, and a quick lunch on Zia, we rolled out the genniker for the short trip to Capo Plaia.
 
Coming around the corner, we knew we would like the spot immediately.  It was full of kiteboarders and windsurfers, taking advantage of the afternoon easterly, blowing up to 20 knots right along the beach.  Being the friendly Americans that we are, we greeted one windsurfer who sailed close to the boat.  It turns out he ran the kiteboarding school on the beach.  Unfortunately, he is only there on weekends and it was already too late in the day to sign up, but we got a name and phone number and are hoping to get a chance to take a few lessons. 
  
 
The water park was small, but brand new and the girls had a ball.  The Fertitta family joined us there in the afternoon.  By that time, Cassie and Juliana had charmed the entire staff of the place and they were ready to help Francesca enjoy all the attractions, including the wave pool. 
  
 
We were all exhausted by the end of the day, but we walked the two miles home eagerly, a little anxious to catch our first glimpse of Zia still safely at anchor in the bay. 
  
The dinghy, including engine and gas cans, survived the day chained to a post at the beach as well.  I'm not sure if our increased anxiety about theft is at all justified just because we are in Sicily, but it doesn't hurt to be safe.  Especially, since we were making our way towards Palermo, the fifth largest city in Italy and the capital of Sicily.
 
Alex has hooked us up with his cousin who lives in Solanto, about 10 miles east of Palermo.  We are currently anchored outside his home.  Have you ever heard of the expression "A man's home is his castle?"  
  
We look forward to meeting Vincenzo and his family tomorrow.  I can hardly wait!
 
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Many thanks to our friend Craig Homenko for his assistance in setting up the website.
We also would like to thank our buddy Scott Brunner who has been kind enough to host the website on his server.
 

 
   

 
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