Stromboli Island and Volcano

Whilst poring over our travel photos the other day, I came across some lovely ones from our little holiday in Sicily over a year ago. And even though I've previously blogged about Sicily and the Aeolian islands, I completely missed writing about our adventure in Stromboli. Given that I have no summer holiday tales to share, I'm going to relive those wonderful memories from last spring. And, who doesn't like a good volcano ( from a distance)?!

Stromboli is one of the eight Aeolian islands off the coast of Sicily. It is home to one the Italy's three active volcanoes. Ed and I had decided to give Etna a miss due to the weather and lack of time and explore Stromboli instead. It is a short ferry ride from Lipari (our base) and is a good place for a day trip.

We caught a ferry from Lipari mid-day which took us to Stromboli via a short stop at Panarea ( the richest of the islands). The ferry ride was incredibly scenic with stunning outcrops of rock meeting azure blue waters, distant islands and beautiful blue skies.

On reaching Stromboli, our first port of call was the local gelataria for a quick sweet fix before heading to the black volcanic sand beach for a snooze. A quick snooze later, we decided to go for a walk around the island. The volcano is omnipresent from all parts of the island, either by way of smell, sight or quite rumble. As we walked higher up the island, we could see the volcano spewing smoke in the distance. There were signs for shelter areas and safety tips just in case the volcano decided to rumble a bit more angrily.

Stromboli is also quite pretty, with lemon trees along pathways, little gardens with Mediterranean flowers and whitewashed houses with blue doors. It felt like an undiscovered secret island and I hoped it would remain that way ( rather than becoming like one of those more popular Greek islands)

Last on our agenda for the evening was to take the ferry up very close to the seaward side of the volcano. A few braver ( and fitter) souls decided to walk to the top and see it from very close quarters but we didn't have our walking boots and hence decided to take the easy option. Stromboli has been continuously erupting for the last couple of thousand years and from where we were stationed, we could see an eruption every twenty minutes. It was all very exciting until I started feeling terribly seasick, puked my guts out and feel asleep. 

Despite feeling very green by the end of our adventure, I still enjoyed the experience and it is one I'd highly recommend. Ann x

Wearing: H&M scuba swimsuit ( old), Vivienne Westwood sunglasses and Havianas flip flops. 

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St. Andrews on a Rainy Day

A colleague told me that St. Andrews was like a mini Edinburgh and that was enough to convince me to visit the place.  St. Andrews is also the holy land of golfers and where Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge first met. Ed and I decided on an day trip to St. Andrews over our wedding anniversary weekend . I was in charge of the itinerary. Its a good job I didn't plan it much detail as it started bucketing it down non-stop and there wasn't an awful lot we could actually do. It's a good job this aforementioned colleague also recommended The Seafood Restaurant, it was the highlight of what could have otherwise been a miserable day...

The original itinerary involved driving through Fife, stopping by the fishing village of East Neuk, walking around St. Andrews and finally heading back to Edinburgh via Falkland. None of this went to plan it was very foggy and wet and none of these otherwise wonderful places would have felt particular charming.

We headed straight to The Seafood Restaurant is an interesting juxtaposition of glass and concrete against the medieval coastal backdrop of St Andrews. The all glass interiors meant lovely views ( albeit grey) of the sea whilst we dined. The food was very well presented and tasty but the portion size was quite small.  I was told that the sunset views from the restaurant are amazing and I could see why!

After lunch we decided to brave the outdoors again but not for long. Quite unlike some dedicated golfers who were adamant that a game would not stop just because it was siling it down with rain.  Interestingly, we also came across a group of parasailers who were of the same mould as the golfers I mentioned earlier. Personally, I'd much rather we drinking a nice hot cup of coffee or a cold glass of bubbles in the warmth.

The only other disappointment was the charity shops. I had high hopes of getting my hands on some exqusite royal cast-offs in the local charity shops but the best I found was some iffy bits from Topshop ( the types of which I'd rather buy straight from Topshop!). There was no vintage Chanel or Ferragamo in sight anywhere. 

And finally, a quick outfit shot ( not the most flattering shot at all) to show you my Vika Gazinskaya dress that I bagged from Other Stories after days and days of stalking ( as it sold out completely when it first arrived!!).

Have you been anywhere nice recently? Ann x

Wearing: Vika Gazinskaya for Other Stories dress, Christian Dior shades, Kenzo watch, Ash Suede Spiral Ankle boots and Mulberry Alexa bag

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