In Lipari

Obsidian is a volcanic glass whose formation is due to the rapid cooling of lava.
Inside the volcano, temperatures and pressures are so high as to melt, giving rise to silicate lava. The lava in contact with air cools very rapidly, giving rise to obsidian. The rapid cooling does not allow atoms to form an ordered crystal. Obsidian is a natural glass, similar to that of human production. It is used to make necklaces and valuable types of  arms.

                             PUMICE

Pumice  is a textural term for a volcanic rock that is a solidified frothy lava typically created when super-heated, highly pressurized rock is violently ejected from a volcano. It can be formed when lava and water are mixed. This unusual formation is due to the simultaneous actions of rapid cooling and rapid depressurization. The depressurization creates bubbles by lowering the solubility of gases (including water and CO2) dissolved in the lava, so that they rapidly exsolve (like the bubbles of CO2 that appear when a carbonated drink is opened). The simultaneous cooling then freezes the bubbles in the matrix.

USES

Pumice is widely used to make lightweight concrete or insulative low-density breeze blocks. When used as an additive for cement, a fine-grained version of pumice  is mixed with lime to form a light-weight, smooth, plaster-like concrete. It is also used as an abrasive, especially in polishes, pencil erasers, cosmetic exfoliants, and the production of stone-washed jeans. “Pumice stones” are often used in beauty salons during the pedicure process to remove dry and excess skin from the bottom of the foot as well as calluses. Finely ground pumice is added to some toothpastes and heavy-duty hand cleaners (such as Lava soap) as a mild abrasive.

This is a cave for the extrction of pumice in Lipari.

Recently this extraction has been forbidden to preserve

the site as it belongs to the Unesco Heritage, but many

workers lost their job making this decision unpopular in the

isles.

FOOD and Specialities

The Tuna

A typical product of the island of Vulcano is tuna .
The tuna is fished in the sea of the Aeolian Islands with the technique of “Conzo” in varieties Alalunga and bluefin tuna.

Cuts are obtained by separation of  interiors, the stomach and fillets that are subjected to cooking and drying in a sterile environment.
Packaged in glass jars, the only ingredients are tuna, olive oil and sea salt.
It ‘a product whose meat is soft and tasty, very different from the normal tuna in oil.

Tuna is used in a variety of recipes for pasta and salads.

The tale of Cola Pesce is from Messina by Alessandro, Davide e Daniele

Cola Pesce was the son of a fisherman, he was very good at swimming and diving. One day Cola Pesce transformed himself into fish. King Federico II asked him to take his Crown under water, Cola Pesce dived to take the crown Under water and saw that Sicily was kept by columns. As one of the columns was broken, he decided to stay there and keep on to take the columns off.

THE LEGEND of MADONNA IN TINDARI

Tindari is near Messina. The landscape is very beautiful and also the beaches are very beautiful. The legend tells that a lady having her child seriously ill ,turned to the Virgin Mary of Tindari. After she got the miracle she went to Tindari and seeing the Madonna had a dark skin she said: I came to see a far uglier face than me? Meamwhile the child unattended fell from the top of the hill. The mother went to pray for the miracle again and the girl was found unharmed.

Francesca,Caterina,Federica & Ketty.

THE TALE of ACI and GALATEA

In Catania province there are many little towns named with “Aci”:Aci Catena,Acireale,Aci Sant’Antonio,Aci San Filippo ,Aci Trezza,Aci Castello,Aci Bonaccorsi e Aci Platani.They have a legend in common: the story of Acis and Galatea.

Aci was an unfortunate shepherd and Galatea a nymph.Galatea was the nymph of the Ionian Sea.In the beautiful sun rising she laid down on a rock, dressed in pink,waiting for the sun to cover her of pearls

.One morning the Cyclops Polyphemus,who lived on the flanks of Etna,emerging from his cave, saw the nymph,fell in love with her and wanted to kidnap her.Galatea got frightned and disappeared into the waves.Since then Polyphemus did not forget her.While his sheep was grazing grass he sat on the shore waiting and hoping to review Galatea.

Polyphemus wanted to marry her! In an afternoon that Polyphemus had led his flock beyond the hill,the shepherd Acis, was advancing with his sheep along the beach gently playing a bagpipes. From the bottom of the sea Galatea heard the sweet music and started listening among to the rocks. When Aci finished Galatea asked him to go there every day at sunset to make her listen to that sweet music again. So they met in the next evenings .

.One day they were discovered by the Cyclops.Polyphemus tried to kill Aci, he grabbed a rock,threw it into Acis and hit him.

Galatea was inconsolable and cried so much for the death of Acis. Then she asked and obtained from her father Ocean that Aci became a river so he could join in the water wherenshe lived.

The river Acis still flows beneath a cliff of lava to the Ionian Sea,where it embraces the foam of the unhappy Galatea.

Gemma, Lucia, Sara and Adriana

THE LEGEND of Ulysses and Polyphemus

Ulysses, after the war of Troy, in his pilgrimage along the Mediterranean to return to the island of Ithaca arrived at an island, “Land of the Cyclops “, where the wild giant Polyphemus lived. The giant Polyphemus, lord of the place, and minister of the god of fire ,worked as a blacksmith in Mount Etna, where he produced for Zeus and created wonderful works like the armor of Achilles.

The Cyclops, killed some companions of Ulysses and devoured them. To save himself Ulysses gave Polyphemus some wine and the giant got drunk. Then with a burning wooden stick Ulysses blinded the Cyclop ‘s single eye and so he could go back to his boat..
The blinded Polyphemus tried to hit Ulysses by throwing rocks from the tops of some hills.

The rocks in the legend are the “Faraglioni of Acitrezza “, near Catania.

Gemma, Giorgia, Francesca, Arianna.