Where’s the weirdest or most unusual place you’ve traveled to?I'd have to say the most unusual and out-of-this-world place for me is the cluster of volcanic Aeolian islands off Sicily. This volcanic archipelago, named after Aeolus - son of Zeus, is located just off the northern coast of Sicily in the Tyrrhenian Sea.
Why did you go there?
I was on a 10-week sabbatical in Europe last year and spent 8 weeks travelling all over Italy on my own. Based on the locals' recommendations and by sheer dumb luck, I found my way to the Aeolian islands without any expectations/ research and spent a week in paradiso!
What do people do there?You can do so many things on the seven islands - Lipari, Salina, Stromboli, Panarea, Vulcano, Filicudi and Alicudi. Each island is quite different in size and landscape, and offers many unique attractions such as hiking up the active Stromboli (or watching its fury lava eruptions safely from a boat at dusk), soaking in the thermal mud bath on Vulcano, visiting the archeological museum and pumice hills of Lipari, sneaking into the casa where 'Il Postino' was shot on Salina and diving into the clear blue waters of Panarea or Filicudi.
How do you get there?
To get to Sicily, I took the train from Reggio di Calabria which backed into the belly of a mega barge (most bizzare - imagine a train on a ship!) and then took the hydrofoil from Milazzo to the Aeolian islands. You can also take a very long boatride from Naples to the islands too.
Why should our readers go there?
For the wonderful people (especially the singing Sicilian bus drivers!) and their generous hospitality, unhurried pace of la dolce vita, stunning nature and spectacular scenery, bellissime sunrise and sunset, most humble to-die-for Sicilian food and wine (I had the best spaghetti con sardes, arancini risotto balls, malvasia sweet wine with a range of dolci). It's simply magic :)
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