Without a Traceroute

The next day was kind of windy and rainy, so I didn’t really do much. I did a little bit of hiking, but was smart enough to come in out of the rain. My cheapo Hungarian umbrella got turned inside-out frequently by strong gusts of wind, so it wasn’t much use.

On Sunday, I rented a little scooter and set out to circumnavigate the island. The scooter was way, way more fun than it had any right to be. It was bright yellow, and the right mirror was broken off which gave it a silly, lopsided appearance. But it was fast enough to be fun and exciting without being overwhelming. I got it up to about 60 km/h (around 40 mph) on some of the more wide-open stretches. Actually, the only scary parts were trying to turn around slowly or maneuver carefully down a narrow street without running off the edge of the road (I almost ran into a ditch a couple times) or scratch up the side of the scooter (which would come out of my deposit).

Anyway, the scooter was awesome and I really enjoyed it. It was a great way to get around to see the whole island of Lipari, which isn’t actually that big. It was about 37 km for the road all the way around. I took it at a pretty leisurely pace, stopping in some of the small towns and to do some hiking, and it still only took me about 3 hours. After that, I just raced up and down windy hills until it was time to return the scooter.