Page 32 - aruba-today-20190710

A32 FEATURE
Wednesday 10 July 2019

On tiny Linosa, it’s easy to adopt island’s relaxed rhythms

By FRANCES D’EMILIO their cheek pouches full of
Associated Press fish for young chicks which
LINOSA ISLAND, Italy (AP) have hatched in crannies
— There are no hotels, but left by lava rocks near the
islanders open up their sim- seaside.
ple, gaily painted homes After Linosa’s first modern
to those seeking relaxed settlement was established,
rhythms. in 1845, with 30 hardy souls,
No banks either, but there’s the islanders would eat the
not a lot money can buy birds’ eggs, rich in protein.
here. The sole souvenir shop Now the birds’ evening ritu-
has a few knickknacks. als help feed the island’s
Costs are modest for meals economic mainstay, tour-
made from local ingredi- ism.
ents — lentils, eggplant, Giovanni Grana passion-
peppers perhaps, plus the ately shares with a hand-
catch of the day from the ful of tourists on his plain
emerald-hued, pristine wa- wooden motorboat the
ters surrounding tiny Linosa details he’s learned about
island. shearwater flocks habits
But stunning natural beauty from his nightly observa-
is free and abundant on In this photo taken on Sunday, Sept. 9, 2018 a woman swims in a cove of pristine water surrounded tions. He makes the facts of
this verdant paradise that by volcanic rock formations on the island of Linosa, some 167 km (103.5 miles) south of Sicily, bird life sound like poetry.
rises up in the form of an southern Italy. “My aim is to make the
extinct volcano from the Associated Press tourists fall in love with the
Mediterranean seabed. accounting by my mere ery ochre trimmed with or- One can stroll around the island,” said Grana.
Of the many splendid small presence for about 5 per- ange, robin-blue highlight entire island, whose coastal For a reasonable fee
Italian islands that dot the cent of sojourners those by white, or sea green with perimeter measures 11 kilo- (about 25 euros, or $29), he
Mediterranean waters near days on Linosa. We swam doors framed in red. meters (under 7 miles), in a takes visitors out to sea just
Sicily, only Linosa had elud- or snorkeled in coves cra- In early morning — after- few hours. before sunset to witness an
ed me, vacation after va- dled by dramatically dark, noon temperatures in one Only residents can bring amazing spectacle.
cation, perhaps because it jagged lava rocks, climbed of Italy’s hottest places can cars on the island during Like commuters crowd-
takes some determination volcanic craters and climb into the 90s in Fahren- summer, but motor scoot- ing their route home, the
to get here. Unlike some watched sunsets near the heit (in the low to mid 30s ers and motorized bikes shearwaters skim the sea in
other islands, like Pantelle- black-sand beach where in Celsius) and feel like 115 can be rented by the day. ever increasing numbers to
ria, where Italian VIPs keep caretta caretta logger- or higher — Linosani come The electric “bici” are a form “clans” that then link
summer homes, or Lampe- head turtles waddle ashore out to sweep the tiled side- big hit as well with Linos- together in what the Lino-
dusa, known for lively night- each year to lay their eggs. walks and water potted ani, whose cars are easily sani call “rafts,” creating a
life, there are no flights from On any given day during plants, including hibiscus recognizable because the sort of a highway of birds
the Italian peninsula, no air- “high” season in July and that grow as tall as trees. salty sea air corrodes the stretching to what seems
port. August, there are at most With the cool of the eve- paint. to be the horizon to await
To enjoy Linosa’s charms, about 50 holiday-goers ning, Linosani emerge Come nightfall in late sum- darkness before making
either you take a long ride who spend a few days or again, parking kitchen mer or early fall, on the landfall to check on their
by ferry, or, if waters are so. In September, there chairs outside homes to northerly side of the island chicks.
calm, an infrequent hydro- were some 20 of us, several chat with neighbors. After you can hear the cries of This fascinating nightly ritual
foil from the nondescript of us solitary travelers. With a couple of strolls in the few thousands in a fascinat- is missed by day-trippers
Sicilian port town of Porto the exception of a French streets, visitors can befriend ing feathered colony of who come for a quick-look-
Empedocle. Or you make couple and myself, all were much of Linosa’s popula- greater shearwater birds. tour, a dip in the sea and
a shorter sea journey from Italians. tion. The bird is known as berta lunch at port before catch-
Lampedusa, the only other Those numbers compare “After a few days, you be- maggiore in Italian. A large ing the late afternoon hy-
inhabited island in the Pe- to a year-round resident come islanders, too,” said group of them fly up and drofoil back to their hotels
lagie Archipelago, closer population of about 300 Alberto Ramirez, who runs over the Mediterranean on Lampedusa, some 50 ki-
to northern Africa than to Linosani, as the locals call one of the two B&Bs on the from Libya and Algeria, lometers (31 miles) away.q
Sicily. themselves. In the sole island and whose family
This year, in the waning town, tidy streets are lined has lived here for six gen-
weeks of summer, I came, with houses in hues of fi- erations.
Linosa’s only “night spot”
is a wine bar, which, on
a late summer Saturday
night, closed up shop be-
fore midnight.
Ramirez recalled a couple
who lodged by him recent-
ly telling him, “’Linosa’s not
for us, it’s too tranquil.’”
“Here you come to re-
lax, go to the sea, maybe
have an ‘aperitivo’ in the
evening,” Ramirez said. In this photo taken on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2018, a cat sits on
In this photo taken on Monday, Sept. 10, 2018, a resident walks “There’s no disco.” a flower pot, bottom right, along painted steps in the town of
along a main street in the town of Linosa, on the island of Linosa, On maps, Linosa resembles Linosa, on the island of Linosa, some 167 km (103.5 miles) south
some 167 km (103.5 miles) south of Sicily, southern Italy. a roundish speck in the sea. of Sicily, southern Italy.
Associated Press Associated Press