Scared in Scari: trekking to the volcano on Stromboli

A travel piece based on my trekking in Stromboli, four months after the eruption and the consequent tsunami of 2003-2004 by Slawka G. Scarso. First published in Go World Travel Magazine - July 2004

INCIPIT
“Has this hydrofoil broken down?” asks the German tourist sitting next to me as the ferry stops. We are floating free off the minuscule village of Ginostra on the volcanic island of Stromboli, right in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, and the tourist can't figure out why we've stopped here.
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A quiet Sunday lunch in Venice

A travel piece based on my one day trip to Venice. Written by Slawka G. Scarso. First published in The Traveler - July 2004

INCIPIT
When I decided to go to Venice on a Sunday outing just after Christmas, I thought I was doomed to be squashed by other tourists on tiny bridges, to hang onto a vaporetto (the ferry-bus that takes you from one end of town to the other) with my feet dragging in the Canal Grande waters, to share a one-way raised walkway put during winter floods with hundreds of people and their cumbersome luggage. Still, I was determined to do it. I must say that my first impression as I got out of the station was a little claustrophobic; not so much for the number of people as for that of stalls selling scarves, gondolier style striped T-shirts and Carnival masks that looked everything but hand made in Venice.
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Summertime in Rome

A travel piece based on my insider knowledge of Rome. Written by Slawka G. Scarso. First published on Go World Travel Magazine - July 2004

INCIPIT
As an Italian stand-up comedian once said, if Romans can’t drive to some place, they won’t go there. Walk around the Italian capital on a Saturday night and indeed you will see hundreds of cars queuing on the sides of the River Tiber or desperately squeezing into the narrow streets behind squares such as Campo de’ Fiori or the neighborhood of Trastevere, packed with restaurants and cafés, and trying to fit into the space of a dustbin as if they were playing the computer game Tetris.
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