We went to another island today with our bikes. Franco, our guide, has a degree in geology and specialized in volcanic activity. Therefore, he is a perfect person to take us around the islands. The pictures today show one of the types of lava flow on the islands: pumice. Pumice is also one of the two main exports of Salina, along with capers. There is a big pumice quarry on both Salina and Lipari. Since pumice is a fairly soft material, it is a danger for crumbling or sliding on to roads around the islands. You can see the porousness in it from the pictures. A chain link netting is used to keep it in place but Franco says that it is still quite unstable, especially when it rains. Fortunately, there was no rain today. The other lava flow material is obsidian, which is a big export of Lipardi. I bought some obsidian jewellery to try and do my part at supporting the Lipardi economy.
4 comments:
You said capers was a big part of the exports. Did you see how they grow? I'm thinking on a tree. Check it out. Inquiring minds want to know and not just look it up on the internet! Stay warm and dry and keep posting for us all.
Gary and Cathy, the capers are on vines and they are actually the flower of the plant, not the seed. I was unable to show them because it is too early for the bloom. As for growing them, I know that Sicily is usually much warmer than Seattle. However, that is about all I can tell you. I will keep my ears open for opinions from local growers--Peggy
And here I thought you were bragging about being out on another caper! Thanks for you fun reports and pictures. Safe touring, to you both! Love from
Worcesters !
We saw capers (Capparis spinosa) in Greece. It's actually a spiny shrub with skinny branches that tends to grow on rocky areas. The caper we eat is the pickled flower bud. The vines you saw may be long skinny branches of the shrub. I love seeing your pics of some of the things I saw in Greece. I envy your trip!
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