Italy, A Nation of Islands

By Patricia Winton

Italian weather forecasters divide their predictions into four parts: north, central, south, and the islands. Everybody knows that last doesn’t mean all the 450 islands scattered across Italy, but to Sicily and Sardinia, the two largest, and their neighbors.

Making up about one-sixth of Italy’s land mass, individual islands and 13 archipelagos ring the peninsula. There are about 40 islands in and around the Venetian lagoon. In addition, major lakes, and even a couple of rivers, boast islands as well. Three islands are privately owned. Many Italian islands, such as Capri or Elba, are well-known to tourists, but there are lots of fascinating islands not on the beaten track, including the world's best beach for 2013 from TripAdvisor.

Isola di San Michele: San Michele Island is Venice’s cemetery. Once described as a “cruise ship for the departed,” the island rises from the lagoon surrounded by a yellow wall. For funerals, the undertaker can arrange an aquatic hearse (or even a gondola) for a procession to the island. 

Vaporettos to San Michele on November 1

During All Soul’s commemoration on November 1, vaporettos (Venetian water busses) ply between Venice and the island throughout the week to allow mourners to visits family graves. And like cemeteries in most parts of Italy, interment here is temporary—12 years. After that, people with funds can have their bones transferred to an ossuary in a wall. (I wrote about this practice here.) The gate to San Michele opens at 7:30 AM, closing at 4 PM winter and 6 PM summer.

Isola di Stromboli: Stromboli Island (pronounced STROM bow lee) is a volcano that has been in active eruption for about 2,000 years. It usually erupts about three times an hour, but more vigorous than usual activity began last week, prompting coastguard boats to be deployed as a precaution. By February 19, the volcano had calmed again.

Located northeast of Sicily, Stromboli, an almost perfect triangle, has two villages with a year-round population of about 750. It’s one of the few volcanoes in the world where it’s possible to have a really close look at the eruptions. Dubbed the “Lighthouse of the Mediterranean” because the light show is visible from arriving ships, the island boasts a summer tourist trade with hikes to the volcano, scuba diving, and visits to other islands.

The only way to get to Stromboli is by boat, and because the villages are so small, there are no cars or busses. You get around by on small cycles, by apecars (small, three-wheeled trucks), or on foot. There are no large hotels on the island, but a number of B&Bs and small restaurants provide services to tourists.

Lampedusa: This island is the southernmost point of Italy, located just 70 miles (113 kilometers) from Tunisia and has a very African feel with its arid climate. The sea between Lampedusa and North Africa is only about 370 feet deep (113 meters), so the water remains warm enough for swimming about eight months a year. Part of the island is a nature preserve, so there are good opportunities for hiking. TripAdvisor named Rabbit Beach on Lampedusa the best beach in the world for 2013. While tourism, in addition to fishing and agriculture, is a major industry on the island, the beaches are usually not crowded except during July and August. The island has no fresh water source, except for rainfall.

Rabbit Beach in Lampedusa, called world's best beach by Tripadvisor

For the past ten years or so, Lampedusa has been a preferred destination for illegal immigrants from Africa, and during the Arab Spring about 200,000 people rowed across the sea to the island.

Isola Tiberina: Located in the Tiber River in the heart of Rome, this island is connected to one river bank by Rome’s oldest bridge, Ponte Fabricio (62 BC). Another bridge, Ponte Cestio with parts almost as old as Fabricio, connects Tiberina to the other.

Legend has it that the island emerged above an ancient ship, which its shape mirrors. Romans have perpetuated the legend by building a prow and stern at either end of the island and erecting an obelisk in the center to replicate a ship’s mast.

The ancient Romans built a temple to Aesculapius, the Greek god of healing, on the site. The portico of the temple was used as an incubatio, a place where sick people were left out in the cold to purify them and restore them to health. In the Middle Ages, Tiberina hosted pilgrims to the Holy See, and priests cared for the poor and sick there. A hospital, erected on the island in 1584, still operates.

Weather forecasters are calling for very cold weather from north to south over the next seven days. Even the usually mild islands should have frigid temperatures. Strangely, Stromboli may see snow on that eruption.

Visit me on alternate Thursdays at Italian Intrigues where I write about all things Italian.

The Immigration Question

Note: I’m honored to be added to the roster at Novel Adventurers. From its inception, I’ve followed this blog and envied the zest for life, writing, and travel the contributors exhibit.

Since I came to live in Rome in 2002, the percentage of legal immigrants has risen almost 50 percent, from about 1.5 million to nearly 4.5. The number of illegals adds about another million.

Chinese Grocery Shop in Rome

Until this influx began, Italian culture, with its focus on food and family, had remained essentially unchanged for centuries. Now, people are feeling threatened by the way Chinese restaurants and Halal butchers have popped up everywhere. The Immigration Question gets almost as much newspaper ink and air time as ex-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Some people take their frustration out on individuals. I once saw a Chinese man unload merchandise from his car onto a handcart and begin pushing it towards his shop. An Italian man hit the boxes, strewing them along the sidewalk. It was deliberate and ugly.

Laws designed to make things difficult are being codified as well. Until last year, for example, it was possible to take the drivers license test in several languages. Now, it’s only offered in Italian.

Halal Butcher

Many people call immigrants extracommunitari, a term that technically means “outside the European Community.” In fact, it’s a highly pejorative term referring to people with dark skin or from the poorest eastern European countries like Albania and Romania. When I point out that I am, in fact, extracommunitaria, I’m always corrected: “Oh, no! You’re American.” Many of the people who want restrictive laws for the extracommunitari don’t believe they include me.

When I first applied for a residency permit in 2002, all immigrants in Rome went to the same office where a couple of clerks processed paperwork. We immigrants stood waiting our turns in an open courtyard, often in the rain.

As the numbers grew, Rome’s city government decentralized everything. For two application periods, I completed the process within walking distance of my home. It was painless, if not swift.

But the numbers continued to rise, and public perceptions continued to plummet. The process has become more convoluted. My permit expired in October. I filed application to renew in September. My first appointment to be interviewed came last week. I went to the new Immigration Office via an hour-and-a-half trip by public transport. I stood in line forty minutes just to take a number to wait my turn. I have to go back in January. And so it goes.

Inflatable Raft Near Lampedusa

The strife in the Middle East is creating more tension. Italy’s southernmost point, the island of Lampedusa, lies about the same distance from Tunisia as Cuba from the Florida Keys. Inflatable rafts arrive daily bearing refugees and others seeking to immigrate, legally and not. Italy has become the gateway to all of Europe. One conservative politician advocates having the Italian navy patrol the waters around Lampedusa and fire on the rafts.

Fortunately, the news is not all bad. In a country where birth rates are low and longevity high, many people see immigrants as a way to keep the pension funds filled. And in some towns where the population has dwindled due to unemployment and death, immigrants are welcomed as hope for the future.

Not everyone is threatened by the changes. I spent time earlier this week with a woman who moves in Rome's highest social circles. She told me that when party conversation among her snobbish (her word) friends turns to immigration, she always tells them, “We used to be the immigrants. We Italians arrived at Ellis Island, dirty, covered in lice, poor, and ragged.” She thinks the diversity is a good thing for Italy.

Italy has long been a nation of emigrants. It’s still feeling its way as a nation of immigrants.