Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
STROMBOLI
POP 400
Emerging out of the blue haze like a menacing maritime pyramid, Stromboli's smoking sil-
houette conforms perfectly to one's childhood idea of a volcano. In fact, the island of
Stromboli is just the tip of a vast underwater volcano that rises from the seabed 1476m be-
low. The most captivating of the Aeolian Islands, it's a hugely popular day-trip destination
as well as the summer favourite of designers Dolce and Gabbana, who have a holiday home
here. But to best appreciate its primordial beauty, languid pace and the romance that lured
Roberto Rossellini and his lover Ingrid Bergman here in 1949, you'll need to give it a few
days.
Volcanic activity has scarred and blackened much of the island but the northeastern
corner is inhabited and it's here that you'll find the island's famous black beaches (some
very good, with excellent sand) and the main settlement sprawled attractively along the
volcano's lower slopes. Despite the picture-postcard appearance, life here is tough: food
and drinking water have to be ferried in, there are no roads across the island, and until rel-
atively recently there was no electricity in Ginostra, the island's second settlement on the
west coast. If the weather turns rough and the sea goes wild, ferries and hydrofoils are can-
celled and the island is completely cut off. And if all that isn't enough, there's still the con-
stant possibility of the volcano blowing its top, as it did in February 2007, although fortu-
nately without any harmful consequences.
