This Italian Summer, Part III
The Aeolian island of Salina and one of Italy's most beautiful beaches, an under-the-radar gem of a hotel on the island, and a reminder that we're allowed to change our itinerary.
Today’s Agenda
It’s ok to change your itinerary, I did.
The magic of the island of Salina, and my highlights on the isle, including a very special golden hour spent at one of Italy’s most iconic beaches.
A review for an under-the-radar gem of a hotel that’s the definition of affordable luxury, on Salina.
For Consideration
AirBnB and Alex Assouline have been working on an experience for going behind the scenes at the Assouline headquarters. That’s one HQ I am actually interested in.
The Frick is opening a restaurant, its first ever!
From June 2-8th the Titsou Bar at Fouquet’s New York became a LOEWE bar. These are always the type of partnerships that I went to bat for when I was in the agency world, but I think combining the experience I have now with hotels, to have the most impact, this should have been a full-month takeover.
One of the hotel openings I’ve been most anticipating for this year is The Six Bells in the Hudson Valley, the Audrey Gelman brainchild and spawn of the beloved Brooklyn home goods store. The execution is incredible, and it’s a genuinely fantastic addition to a quite saturated hotel area. So inspired and imaginative and easy to see yourself going there to seek the same. I would be shocked if this weren’t IRL great, or if it were a silent flop.
The Six Bells via their Instagram
For Consumption
I’m very into the silhouette of this H&M dress that’s on sale for $36.
I love a statement jumpsuit and I’m torn between this red number or the denim.
I love this for an affordable beach or general casual day summer skirt.
This (top, bottoms) is the best striped bathing suit execution I think I’ve ever seen, an instant purchase, I hope it fits so badly. The pareo is equally good.
These Ancient Greek Sandals that have a conch shell anklet as the strap are so cool. I love The Outnet.
Happy Hoteling!
A Piccolo Italian Pause
On my last day of my last Aeolian island, I was surveying my mind, body, and to-do list and realized that instead of going to Capri next, I wanted to return briefly to California.
When I left for Sicily, I had so many American life loose ends still tangled and not set to be unraveled until the fall. It’s not an exaggeration that I had a migraine the entire time I was back in California. This meant I didn’t get to do nearly everything I wanted nor needed to do when I was stateside.
But also, I’ve really missed having my own space since the beginning of April when I left my first Florence apartment. I’m a travel writer and professional Hotel Person but I’m also a homebody. Three weeks in Morocco was followed by the same time as a guest in my mom’s home, where I do not have a bedroom. And then in Sicily, while I had islands to roam and many a hotel room of my own, I didn’t have the freedom to have true downtime and room for routine. And I do need that. I can’t always be a guest.
My mom is traveling for a few weeks, leaving her home in my hometown empty and calling my name. And I had the to-do list, the loose ends forever tickling the back of my mind that would make sense to get sorted. I hadn’t gotten the time with my friends or my dad that I wanted, and I realized I had one more window to make this all happen. Now.
As you know, my longer-term lease in Florence starts July 1st, which gave me most of the month of June as both a professional and friend guest.
So instead of going to Pantelleria – which I had already decided mid-Aeolian tour that I didn’t really want to do, that I was doing it for all of you but not because I actually wanted to go solo – I booked a flight back to San Francisco. At first, I wasn’t going to even share about the brief Californian return, as it’s somewhat unnecessary as I have so much to write about, but I recognize people sometimes look to me for insight in solo travel.
One of the biggest merits of traveling solo is having full autonomy of your plans. You can change your mind as much as you want and go wherever the wind of your mind wants to take you. You can listen to what your gut says to do, even if that’s not the cool thing. You can be flexible, and I took full advantage of this.
Most importantly, I get to spend Father’s Day with my 88 year old dad who will be 89 in August. And I can eat burgers and burritos to make up for the calorie deficit of being someone allergic to nuts and fish (besides tuna) and eggplant in Sicily.
Plus, I forgot to renew my International Driver’s Permit and that was eating away at the back of my head. I’ll be back before I’m even done writing about Sicily.
A Truly Beautiful Sicilian Island with a Bucket List Beach
I finally cracked what I really deem as the criteria for an Italian island worthy of the Must Visit list.
At the highest level, it’s an intoxicating combination of mountains and sea. That’s one of the core reasons why Capri never ceases to wow me, time after time, year after year. I can tell whenever anyone is on the island with just a small glimpse of the rocks. It’s why I was so taken by Ponza, as the dramatic cliff of Chiaia di Luna is so breathtaking.
Salina is entirely filled with these dualities of natural wonder. While the taxis are quite expensive, each trip is a mini exodus, a mini excavation of the beauty of the island. Even though I didn’t rent a car, these individual 30-minute jaunts gave me a good overview of the beauty of the island. For return trips, a car rental is really a must.
There are often clickbaity posts around somewhere in Europe being the Hawaii of the continent, and I’m sure they’re all true to some degree, but I’d like to add Salina to that list, which wasn’t something I expected at all. It’s very lush and green, with clouds dotting the tops of peaks in a way that’s reminiscent of the Pacific.
Now, I used the word wild to describe Favignana, but this is another type of wild. More akin to Hawaii. Great green swathes of towering terrain, surrounded by sea. While it’s definitely a destination for the hikers of the world, strangely, it’s also an island where I feel like you can stay at the hotel and also get to experience the island’s beauty, as long as you stay at the right places.
This is something I’m ok with saying, doing, and endorsing because village life is not its main charm. While there are multiple tiny villages – Malfa, Pollara, Rinella, Lingua – the only one with a bit of a buzz is in the port, Santa Marina. And even then, I wouldn’t choose Salina for the quaint community factor. There are only 2,300 residents on the island, after all.
This makes Happy Hoteling quite the opportunity. Of the Sicilian islands, it has, by far, the most Special hotel options.