I got up at 7:30 and went to breakfast where I found a few other early risers.  After breakfast, I popped the blisters on my right foot and then went down and stood in the Mediterranean for the first time.  The sting of the salt felt good on my blisters.

A lot of students were swimming.  I learned that Elise had been stung by a Medusa jellyfish while I was climbing the volcano. The locals all had an ointment that they gave her.  She’s okay. She and several others had hoped to do the climb in the morning, but no guides were available.

Around noon we went out to find a restaurant.  Elise and I ate pasta at a place on the beach.  We returned to the hotel and had our bags loaded on the little pick-up.  Then, we all walked down to the port.  The hydrofoil arrived from around the eastern side of the island at about 3:30.  We loaded on and were off at 3:45.  We sailed around the eastern side so we had a complete island circumnavigation.  It was a beautiful, smooth cruise.  It was not as hazy as yesterday so geomorphic features of the volcano were more pronounced.  It appears that several large landslides occurred, including one that must have removed the southern third of the island.  That must have caused a tsunami on northern Sicily and Lipari-Vulcano.  I spoke with an Italian guy from Messina and his Spanish girlfriend who was a geologist.

The hydrofoil passed several acidic volcanic necks and domes that rise from the sea.  We stopped at Panarea, before disembarking at Lipari.  The town is beautiful with its narrow cobblestone streets.  Our bags were transported to the Hotel Villa Augustus as we walked there.  It is another lovely hotel with balconied rooms overlooking a lush courtyard garden.

Some people went to the beach.  I missed the bus so I joined drew, Katie and The Faulkner for a beer at a sidewalk café.  We then walked down to the Trattoria Di Bartolo, where we found another group of Brevard students and ate an excellent meal at a sidewalk table.  I had pasta and calamari with a local red wine.  It was just about a perfect evening.  Elise came over and told me she had found some nice scarves so I sent her to get one for Joan.  She got a nice one. 

We walked back to the hotel, stopping for an aperitif at a pizzaria near the hotel.

                          Ecology   Environmental Studies    Mathematics