Without a Traceroute

I had forgotten how incredible Rome is.

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I caught the hydrofoil back from Stromboli to Milazzo, it took about 3 hours, including stops at several of the other islands on the way back.

Milazzo is quite nice, if a bit sleepy during the off-season. As a town of only about 32,000 people, it’s MUCH more relaxed than Palermo (pop. 675,000). The difference was immediately apparent the first time I rode the bus in Milazzo. The police had blocked off a section of the bus route, so the driver took a detour: he went the wrong way down a one-way street into opposing traffic. But he did it carefully, and he stopped for a pedestrian!

The only sort of major “sight” in Milazzo is the castle. It’s not really a castle in the sense of a king and royal court living there, but rather more of a military fortress. Built on the hill overlooking Milazzo (a place of strategic importance, it would seem), the fortress was constructed in various pieces by many different groups.

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I came to Stromboli to hike the volcano, and it was awesome. Not in the ordinary, “this burger is awesome” (although a burger would be awesome right now) sense, but rather awesome in the literal, “inspiring feelings of awe” sense.

Stromboli has been erupting continuously throughout recorded human history. And it’s a long one, the Aeolian islands have been continually inhabited since before the ancient Greeks. While Plato was holding forth at the Academy, Stromboli was erupting. While Jesus Christ was dying on a cross, Stromboli was erupting. While the Vandals were sacking Rome a few hundred miles to the North, Stromboli was erupting. While kingdoms and empires rose and fell, Stromboli was erupting. Watching molten rock fountaining from the ground, the same way it has for at least the past 2,500 years or so (and in all likelihood, much longer than that) one can’t help but feel that there are forces in the universe which operate on their own timescale—with utter indifference to human affairs—like the callous and capricious gods of antiquity. These are forces of nature so vast and grand the human mind struggles to comprehend them. There’s no reason to believe Stromboli couldn’t go on erupting long after our species has vanished into extinction.

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.

NOTE: Written on October 4.

Yesterday started out lame, but wound up rather awesome. The train station people were very nice about not deliberately waking me up and rousting me out. A janitor came in around 7:30 I think, I sort of half woke up, but he didn’t say anything and even mopped around my bags on the floor. I thought it was nice of him; maybe he was just happy to have an excuse not to mop that part of the floor. The tourist office in the train station never opened, but I caught a bus down to the port.

At the port, I got seriously jerked around by the guy working the ticket booth for the ferry out to the islands. First he sold me an €11 ferry ticket, then he told me the ferry didn’t leave until 6:30 pm (they’re on the off-season schedule now, with less frequent service), but there is a hydrofoil leaving at 12:15. It was only about 10 am at this point, so I’m like, “Fine, can I get the 12:15 instead?” And he does some fast change action where he takes back my ferry ticket, and all the change from the €20 bill I’d handed him. Then, he doesn’t give me a ticket, and he says “Ok, come back here at 12.” I was was like, “What?” but he was very insistent like, “It’ll be fine, you come back at 12 now,” and hustled me out the door of the ticket office before closing it and locking up.

I spent the next couple hours buying some groceries to take with me to the islands to save money on food, and then waiting in the tourist office at the port (where I discovered a hydrofoil trip is supposed to cost €16.50, not €20).

When I did go back to the ticket office (at 11:45, not 12), there was already a mob of people there, and I had to wait. I got to the window and it was the same guy; sure enough, he wanted to charge me again for another ticket. I stood firm and was like, “No, I already paid you, you need to give me a ticket.” he finally relented, only by then the 12:15 hydrofoil had sold out, so I had to wait for the 1:15.

I’m still not completely sure what to make of this situation. It’s possible the guy intended to take back the ticket and all my change and give me back the €20 note, in which case it was an innocent mistake and he wasn’t intending to rip me off. On the other hand, he was very pushy and obnoxious. A guy who lives in Milazzo later told me that the ferry operators have a reputation for being jerks to everyone, locals and tourists alike.

I think the lesson for me is that I need to be less worried about looking like a jerk, and more worried about getting ripped off. I should’ve been clear about the price, and I should’ve demanded a ticket or my money back on the first go around. This is hard for me, because I’m generally a pretty easy-going guy; especially in foreign countries where I don’t always understand the way things work, it’s easy to come off as the pushy, demanding tourist.

The hydrofoil was pretty cool. Boarding was an adventure, though. The Italians in general do not do lines. Everyone just mobs around a narrow gangplank and shoves their way forward. I got elbowed in the face by a woman who could’ve been my grandmother.

The trip took about an hour and a half. I’m really glad I decided to come here though. Lipari is incredibly beautiful. Accommodation prices are way down during off season. I’m staying at an apartment rented by a nice old Italian lady who speaks basically no English. I have my own private room with private bathroom (this is a first for me on this trip), a balcony with a view of the Mediterranean, a refrigerator, and there’s a shared kitchen here. All for €20 a night. When you consider that I paid €18/night for a bunk bed in a hostel dorm in Palermo, you can see why this is awesome.