Bed and Breakfast da Luca :: Panarea :: Aeolian Islands :: Sicily[]

Rooms for your holidays on Panarea

A seafaring family

Stories and Traditions of Island Life

The first member of the family to become enthralled with Panarea was Luca’s grandfather. He arrived from Messina, aboard one of the old steamboats that transported people and merchandize from one island to another. If you look at the photographs from that period, the steamboats appear delicate and respectful of the environment, much more so than the huge, noisy (though comfortable and fast) boats used today. After years as a coal shoveler amongst the workings of steamboats, Luca’s grandfather decided that is wasn’t enough for him to see the islands from the slits of the boat, and he decided to disembark.

He disembarked at Panarea, the island he considered the most beautiful - and when he got off, he got off to stay. He found a strong, sailor-like woman, well, actually more than sailor-like since she was able to launch a boat alone and row all the way to the Bolzano, which sunk in 1942, in order to save as many people as she could.

Luca’s father was part of that generation of young people who went north to find work as a viable alternative to the tough life as a fisherman. He too went north, served unfamiliar-smelling foods, but quickly returned to Panarea, bringing back a clever three-wheeled novelty, the Ape, the first Ape on the island. On an island where, fortunately, the narrow streets, prevented the arrival of real cars, the Apetta (the Lapa), became the fundamental means of transportation at Panarea up until the arrival of small electric cars. Used to transport goods and luggage, it quickly became a taxi for the transportation of passengers. On this magic island, where everything becomes beautiful, even the rusty metal of the Apette acquired a romantic air in the midst of the bright red bougainvilleas.