Yesterday we got up early and caught a shuttle to the docks for our all day boat adventure among the volcanic islands near Tropea and Sicily.  The first island was Stromboli.  We were there long enough to,walk around a bit and have a bruschetta…the biggest I’ve ever seen…could have fed four people.  It is a small fishing village with a black sand beach from the lava from the volcano.  Flowers and cactus browning in profusion.  We left there and went to the next island Lipia where we took a two hour bus trip around the island…also another volcano.  The island is covered with vegetation, altho it has no water supply of its own.  When it rains, the water is soaked into the pumice stone like a sponge and holds the water to hydrate the plants.  Flowers are everywhere, olive trees and huge masses of cactus.  There is a huge castle in ruins over the town and is supposed to be part of a six thousand year old structure.  There are big obsidian stones all over the island and obsidian is considered good luck here.  The beaches are black sand and the water is turquoise and clear…you can see small stones on the bottom.  On one side of the island is a former pumice quarry that was in full force until the 90’s when UNESCO shut it down.  Over 2000 workers had died from lung disease caused by breathing the pumice.  As we were leaving, I popped into a small church near the dock.  What a treat inside!  One one side a small town had been made in miniature with a canal in front of it.  The water moved and boats floated.  There were towns people going about their daily lives in the small buildings that were three to four feet high.  Women washing and hanging out laundry, a lace maker, a butcher cutting meat, a fisherman cleaning fish, a fish net maker, pushing a cart down the sidewalk, a pizza oven with a ‘fire’ going inside, a fat bellied fisherman, an old woman spinning wool.  You could even see inside the houses with tables set for meals.  The detail was incredible.  And there was the inevitable Nativity Scene.  I’m so glad I took the time to go inside.  While on this island we stopped for a snack.  It is the typical food ofthis island.  A large, thin slice of the bottom of a bagel it looks like.  Then stacked with tomatoes, olives, mozzarella cheese, sun dried tomatoes, mushrooms, capers and ricotta cheese.  Tuna could be added or salami.  Piled high…and all it was lacking were anchovies…in my opinion!  Our next island was another volcano with hot mud baths, and sulfur.  You could smell it upon docking.  Some of the people availed themselves of the mud…especially the children.  Fortunately, there were showers to wash the mud off after the mud bath.  We got back to our compound just in time for dinner.  I had a pasta with pumpkin sauce and bacon…very tasty.  Showered and hit the bed for a good night sleep.