Lipari

Lipari is the largest of the “sette sorelle” - the volcanic Aeolian islands off the coast of northeastern Sicily. The archipelago is named after the Greek god Aeolus, the Keeper of the Winds, the very same you may know from Homer’s Odyssey.

I stopped there for a few days in the summer of 2019, on a mission to do some genealogy research in their archives, as well as in the cemetery of nearby Alicudi, the westernmost island of the archipelago. I arrived by ferry from Milazzo (on mainland Sicily) early in the morning, just as the island was waking up.

After getting rid of my bags, I stopped for breakfast - criminal, I know, to not go straight for the granita and brioche, but trust me, I learned my lesson.

I then spent a few hours exploring the small “downtown” area (and stumbled on an unexpected cat sanctuary on Via Nuova) before making my way up to a lookout point called

Quattrocchi. From there, you get amazing views of the sea and of the neighboring island Vulcano.

After finally making my way back down to sea level, I stopped at L’Officina del Cannolo for lunch. I ordered what was listed on the menu as “cannolicchio,” so at first I thought it would be a savory version of the restaurant’s sweet specialty, cannoli. Later reserach shows that the shape is actually meant to mimic a certain long, thin clam called cannolicchi.

The cannolicchi were thick and doughy, but in a good way. They were served in a basil and tomato pesto, with bits of eggplant and ricotta brought over from Vulcano. I honestly would go back just to have it again (followed by a cannolo, of course).