Mount Etna

 Oh my goodness - we went back and forth on this one. The decision was not about going there —- it was on our list, but who to go with. It was part of the events for the wedding week, but we weren’t sure we wanted to go with that large group or to go on our own. 

As the week went on and I had still not made a decision, it was during lunch on the wedding day that we talked to the bride and we were once again invited and we just went for it. 

Being part of a large group can be challenging and it was!! But in a good way. It wasn’t so much the logistics that get bogged down, but what if you don’t like the people? By this time, we knew that we had no issues with the family and friends. Anyway —- we had a blast and I’m very happy that we decided to go with the family and friends. It was another great bonding day. I will have to rethink my group planning in the future. 

We needed to be at the bus stop for 8 AM which was early for all of us, but we made it before the bride and groom and we knew the bus wouldn’t leave without them! 

For those of you who have been to Europe and in particular Sicily, you know how narrow the roads are and you know the hairpins needed to get from of the top of the hill to the bottom without driving down steep roads. There are a ton of hairpins and we were in a COACH bus. How that driver got around some of the corners is beyond me. A lot of practice to be sure. More on that later. 

What was nice about the tour with a large group, was that we were all able to do the part that we wanted. If you wanted to do a longer walk, you could do that, if you didn’t then there was the large four by four vehicles for that. That would have been a challenge to do with just the four of us. So the larger group was great. 

You could rent boots and jackets on the mountain. I borrowed a sweatshirt from M, so I was good for a jacket, but I rented boots, which I probably didn’t need to do, but that’s OK. Two different colored laces!!!!

My rented boots

Then we started walking. Here’s a  picture of the four by four vehicle. It was massive. I’m not sure how many people it could carry, but the majority of our group walked. 

The four by four our group took

This is the view of the top of Mount Etna. It is one of the most active volcanoes in the world, and you could see steam pouring from the top. Apparently it does that a lot — it was not about to erupt! It has erupted in December ad January, but as long as the lava comes from the top, there is usually no danger to the residents around as most people live further than 7 KM from the top and that is the typical maximum distance from the top that the lava travels. And apparently, Etna has been closed to tourists until 2024 because of the rebuilding needed. 

Steam from Mount Etna

So M, Dillon, and I walked, while DH took the vehicle. 

M and I on Mount Etna

We had two guides — one that was on the bus with us from the start and we met this guy at the top. Both of them LOVED their jobs and were happy to provide as much information as we wanted. It’s so nice to chat to those who are passionate about what they do. 

Our mountain top guide

There is a lot of snow on Mount Etna this year - much more than they have had in recent years and thankfully, we didn’t need to walk on much of it. We did NOT go to the top — that is a different kind of hike and is much more dangerous because of the snow. It required crampons which we did not have, but we still got to see a lot. 

This was one of the two patches of snow that we had to walk on. It was very granular as it is melting. 

A short walk in the snow

Then onto another narrow path. All those plants are cacti!!!! I know —- I was kind of surprised by that. 

Cacti growing on Etna

If they told us how many craters there are on Mount Etna, I’ve forgotten, but the number is quite large. There are craters everywhere. Here is one of them. And there are FOUR large ones at the top and apparently the top of Etna keeps changing as the lava continues to flow. 

A snow covered crater

But it was very interesting as we walked around one, because it was just like a bowl and we walked on the rim. The crater is to the right. 

Walking on the rim of one of the craters

And here we can see the rim of two craters. 

A ridge between two craters

You can see Mount Etna steaming away near one of my hands. 

Me on Mount Etna

The snow in the craters is melting from the top and the bottom. And it was interesting because the extremely knowledgeable guides told us that all of this surface is considered ash. We called it rocks! 

Melting snow in the craters

I do not know why this is, but on the way up, we followed a fairly solid type of terrain. It was the road that the vehicles drive on and it was relatively compacted and solid. So that is great footing. BUT on the way down, we have to deal with the scree (loose, small gravel-like ash) which is loose and I am not a fan. It was the same when we went to Mount Kilimanjaro —- solid footing on the way up, not so solid on the way down. I would have preferred the reverse. However I was careful — after all, I had M’s white sweatshirt on and I wasn’t about to fall with that on! 

Then we came to one patch of snow that was challenging to get down. Of course, those with better knees than I, or more adventurous, had no issue to get down, but I sort of side slide and I was fine. Some people slid down on their butts which worked, but they ended up with wet pants and I was having none of that. It really wasn’t that long of a distance to cover. 

Sliding down a snow bank

M slide about half way down and then realized at the bottom that she lost her phone. But the guide, who was still on the slope found it in the snow and all was good!!!

There was a fairly significant eruption in 2002 that crushed a ski lodge at the top. And it was interesting to see the odd tree was left standing, but most were crushed. 

A lone standing tree on Etna

We got to see the fracture of the side of the mountain where the lava flowed from during that big eruption. And the area where we were bused to is fairly new. This is the fracture and you can see how it carved a path through the trees. I swear I took a picture of the area where the buildings are and all that is new. I cannot find the picture. 

The lava path and the fracture

And this was taken from the parking lot - steaming away like a pot of tea!! I swear not all my pictures are showing up when I load them this way. But it was interesting that the tops of all four peaks do not have snow on them because of the temperature of the land caused by the steam. 

Steam from Etna

Here’s a picture of our bus. This is a large bus. Once we finally returned from our walk, returned our boots and jackets, we boarded the bus. We were BEHIND schedule, but it didn’t surprise me and it’s one of the reasons I’m not a fan of group tours. You can’t corral 40 people in a hurry. 

The bus

Our next stop was the Gambino winery. Guess what? It’s on the lower slopes of Etna and the roads to get there were even narrower than what we had driven on. I do NOT see how the bus driver managed to get us there without a single scratch on that bus. Let’s just say that he understands the physics required to turn corners. 

And they greeted us with glasses of wine. This was the first time that I had wine while here. I’m just not a big wine drinker. But how could you resist the glass with this sun sparkling through the glasses. It was a magical moment. 

Greeted with glasses of wine

We arrived at the table where there were many wine glasses and of course, the first course of our meal. Let’s just say there was a lot of talking about wine, which I passed to DH and there was a lot of food. But not overly so. It all looks weird but for the most part it was good. 

Wine tasting

At last we were done - another abrupt ending to the meal because we needed to get on that bus. This was the view from the winery — in the distance, you can see the main land of Italy. 

The view from the winery

This is one of the hairpin turns on this small dirt road. It doesn’t show properly, but it was interesting!!! And no one honks their horns — they just back up and let the bus through - just part of driving on these roads. 

Tight corner with a big bus

When we arrived at the bus terminal in Taormina, we had a massive goodbye as many of us are parting ways at this time. 

After we got back to the aparment, I decided to walk up with Dillon and M to their apartment to see the view and to see the crazy stairs. This is the view from the top, which as they had told me the night before is not far from the church that we had climbed up to see a couple of days ago. How crazy is that. 

Beautiful view from their balcony

When we did the walk to the church, it was on multiple switchbacks, the stairs to their apartment are STRAIGHT up and the top part was steep. However, it didn’t take long, but there is NO way that you would want to have much in your hands!!! 

I stayed for a glass of water and then I was on my way back down. I took pictures of the stairs on the way down. Trust me — I stopped to take the pictures because I needed to look down. You did NOT want to trip and for the most part, there was no hand rail. 

The first set of stairs down

When you got to the bottom of one set, you turned the corner, walked a few paces and then down the next set of steps. 

The next set of stairs — not quite so steep

And then you walked down the next set of stairs. 

The third set

And then a few more stairs. But it was interesting because some of them were more doable with an odd landing thrown in. 

Much easier stairs

And just like they said - they turned the corner and POOF —- there was the green fence on the left to our apartment. The window on the left is our kitchen window and the other one is the living room. The upper two are the bedrooms. 

There is our gate!!!!

Then I decided to explore an Adventure Lab that I wanted to try. It’s part of geocaching. Well, wouldn’t you know it but I had to climb up the darn steps to the church — at least part way and I had already been up those same steps TWICE before. What’s a few more steps? 

It was pretty easy to do but I was getting tired. Oh should I say my knees were getting tired by then. According to my FitBit — a total of 180 floors, but it felt like thousands!

On the way home, I stopped for a few minutes in the town to listen to the live music and then to the grocery store to get some munchies. I spotted this great parking job near our apartment. 

It’s a world so different from where I live and I had the most amazing time. Today is a trasition day and I must get myself organized because I have a train to catch. Think about that for a minute. I’m on an island and I have a train to catch and that’s all I’m going to say about that until tomorrow. 

Have a wonderful day!!!

Ciao!!!!

The amphitheater

And so ends another exciting day! After I wrote the blog yesterday, I was exhausted from not much sleep the night before, so I went back to sleep. It was raining anyways and we had an outdoor activity planned. That got put on hold for a couple of hours. We had yet another lunch yesterday! It was the 30th birthday of the bride’s only daughter so we had a family lunch. 

It was just a short walk from our apartment, so it was great. A short walk is 15 minutes. We are getting the hang of where we are and where we need to go. Everywhere is either up or down! However, there is much along the main street as well and this location only required going down a few steps.

While it is never too late in life to travel, it would be a challenge for anyone with mobility issues to visit a place like Taormina. So many stairs and I haven’t really seen much in the way of accessibility, but I’m sure it exists. You would just need to choose wisely where you go. 

I’m lucky that despite some aches and pains in my knees that I’m able to get around no problem. 

OK - so I’m tempting fate this morning and put out the food waste bag. Let’s hope that I did it on the right day and at the right time! The system is not complicated but you must be on your toes that you get the right bag out on the right day. I think they pick up food waste three times a week. There are no huge garbage trucks that come by and pick up like they do in North America. Even in the larger European cities, garbage is handled a whole lot different than in our wasteful North America! 

Here’s the little garbage truck that we saw on the main street, which during the day is restricted to pedestrians. It’s pretty small. I’m very good at getting pictures of things but not showing the scale. You can see the driver’s leg in green at the front. 

The mini garbage truck

For dessert at lunch I had a fruit salad and the pineapple slices were so thin you could see through them. They were shavings of pineapple. Yum!!!

Fruit salad for lunch

We were seated at six tables in the restaurant - in a room just for us. We arrived at 12:00 and didn’t leave until 3 PM. Meals are very long! Since we were the ones to receive our dessert last, we were just finishing up when everyone else started leaving as people had bags to pack and planes to catch. The birthday girl and her girlfriend were on their way to Greece. We said good bye to everyone (until today) and then headed out for our afternoon adventure which was the amphitheatre that was built in the third century BC. 

The Taormina amphitheatre

We could see this from the castle ruins the previous day. 

The church we had visited the day before is on the first point on the left and the castle is on the next one over. There is a whole other village up there as well. It’s a crazy place to build, but you certainly got a good view of the Ionian ocean and anyone who was coming to attack!!

The castle ruins in the background

Looking at the amphitheatre and thinking about any large structure built back in the day (cathedrals, castles, etc) you just wonder how the heck they were able to build all that. The arches are smooth and strong. The rooms are massive. It was an amazing feat to say the least. 

Inside the amphitheatre

They have AI generations of what the amphitheatre looked like back in the day  - I guess to the best of the knowledge they can glean from historical sources and it’s interesting to note that this wall was extremely high with loads of columns. And there wasn’t a bit gap in the wall! 

M and Dillon in front of the stage in the amphitheatre

Same thing in the back — there were two large walls in the back with columns and there is room for many spectators.  Like all progress, I think this was the centre of the universes for this area, but it fell out of favour at some point. 

Looking over the seating

They even showed pictures of how they envisioned them having a roof on the place. Now the roof was for sun shade only and consisted of long canvases stretched across the surface. I’m not sure if that was real or not but the concept was great. 

It was nice to sit in the sun and just relax after some whirlwind days. On our slow walk back to the apartment, we stopped at a few shops and picked up a few small souvenirs. It’s a challenge to pick ONE magnet that is meaningful to the trip. We settled on one and we were good. I think M and Dillon were struggling with one. But why buy two and then later have to cull, when one will suffice. Make the tough decisions before you buy. Life is full of decisions. 

DH managed to find me a thimble to add to the collection and I found a cool bracelet. 

Once we got the apartment, M and Dillon packed up as they were moving to a new apartment. We were going to walk them there, but it’s up a lot of steps! The walking distance was only 11 minutes, but I think it was on the road and the roads are crazy to walk on. 

We helped them to the taxi stand with all their luggage. Thankfully we were going downhill and whenever a car came from behind, someone yelled CAR. I’m sure we were quite a sight! Within a short time, we got a notification that they had arrived. I don’t think they had as much difficulty finding their place as we did the first night we arrived. 

DH went to a restaurant for dinner and I went to the grocery store and bought a salad. I am done with large meals for a while. I also bought some breakfast items as we have an early start to today’s adventures. 

But as I was sitting in the main room of the apartment last night, I heard M and Dillon. How neat — they found stairs from their apartment to the main street, and the stairs just so happened to pass right by where we are! I’ll have to take a hike up to their place later. I figured there were stairs, but the stairs are not marked on Google Maps —- well, we might have seen them on terrain view. 

Anyway, they are much further up the hill, so they have a much better view than we do. But I’m not really here for the view from the apartment. 

We had to stop and look at clothing on the way back from our afternoon adventure and we spotted these in a men’s store. Look at this tiny shirts and they had hand made buttons on the shirts!!!

Mini shirts

Speaking of views — this was the view last night. There was some fireworks going off, but we couldn’t see them, but I think M said they could see them from their apartment. 

Here’s the one crazy thing about European homes — the number of switches on the walls. And what the heck do they all do? I was in the kitchen prepping the waste for today and I was trying to find the light. I can hear a whirring sound —- oh this one unlocks the kitchen window which is high on the wall. And other places when you turn off all the lights, a green flashing light comes on, but I was able to disable that by repeating touching it. 

I think their electrical outlets, timers, etc, are way more advanced than what we have, but without things being labeled, it’s trial and error to turn the lights on! But that’s OK — it’s all about learning!!

Our front door works on some weird locking mechanism which we have figured out, but not without the help of the video. And when you pull the door shut, it locks automatically, so don’t forget the key. 

Plus, it’s hard not to forget where you put the key ring in the house, because there is a key on it which turns on the power in the apartment. Well, I’m guessing that some power works or the fridge would be having difficulty. But it’s a good power saver for forgetful tourists who would be inconsiderate enough to leave the lights on when they leave the house. 

The laundry room with a washer is under the stairs and we found an iron and ironing board so DH could iron his shirt for the wedding. Just in case anyone wanted to see a European iron — they are the same as back home, but with a different brand. 

We have one more group adventure today and then I believe that the group will start disbanding. Actually, some people have already made their way home. Our little group of four splits up tomorrow but you’ll hear all about that in a day or so. 

I’m glad I’m traveling light and sure wish I had my backpack, but my small and light suitcase is OK. It’ll still be easy to move around. Not a lot of clothing options since it’s cool and I seem to wear the same thing every day, but that’s OK. Perhaps it’ll be a bit warmer on the main land.

We have only seen a small portion of Sicily. I have two more things I’d like to do in Taormina, but I’m not sure I’ll get time, so we may have to come back at some pint. But there are so many other places on the list to see —- there just won’t be enough time or money to visit them all. I guess it’s all about priorities!!!

On that note, I’m out of here. I might go out for a short walk this morning before we have to leave. 

Have a wonderful day. 

Ciao!!!

The wedding

I am so tired today!!! I will definitely be having a nap later on. I have so many pictures that I don’t even know where to start! 

Yes — we are in Sicily, particularly in Taormina, but I have been in other small villages in Europe and the architecture is somewhat different because of the location, however, the willy nilly way the streets are created is pretty similar. Let’s just say there is NOT a lot of planning. When these villages were built, there was no town planner to say this goes here and that goes there. 

The cathedral and churches probably had first pick, but then much of the rest filled in the gaps and some of these buildings have been here for centuries!!! I found the same in Spain when I walked the Camino. The architecture is based on who was in charge at the time! Most towns and villages have one central street and then it’s a maze behind that with many smaller streets (walkways) to make up the rest of the town. Then there is a much larger area where it gets connected to the Autostrade! With many hairpins which were fun to take in that big bus. More on that in a bit. 

Hairpin turns in a large bus!!!!

I’m not sure that anyone could really describe in detail how some of these European cities are. You need to see them in person and lots of pictures! 

The day started with a walk to find a geocache. That was part way up the mountain (hill) that over looks Taormina and upon which the ruins of a Norman castle sit. 

On the way to Castlemola 

As you would expect there were lots of stairs. I don’t know why all hill climbs start out very steep. It reminded me of the Pyrenees!!!

Lots of stairs

Soon it was a gentle uphill!

But the views were spectacular.

Spectacular views of Taormina

I reached the point of the geocache and I needed to get from the path to that rock wall and I decided not to do it. Can you imagine if I fell? I didn’t need to climb the wall, but I needed to get closer. I bailed on that one and that’s OK. There are others. But see how sensible I am? 

The geocache location

Then I came back down and we had a small bite to eat at the apartment. Then Dillon, M and I decided to visit the castle ruins on top of the hill and we were off. We went back to the stairs that I had climbed earlier. But this time we went all the way to the top. You can see the castle ruins in this picture. 

The castle ruins in the background

Reading the description of the path, the timing, and the distance, we thought it was going to take a long time, but it really wasn’t that bad at all. And there were so many views as we climbed higher that we took our time. 

Beach view

Opposite direction

It was very cloudy day and we actually were higher than some of the clouds and mist. It wasn’t raining, but it had threatened and the only thing we didn’t to get to see from up there was Mount Etna. We visited the castle ruins and ran into the my SIL’s hiking group. Of course, we would find them up the highest point in the area!!!

Inside the castle ruins

The castle was built for defending the city and of course had the usual small tiny place to hold prisoners and even a death well. We don’t really need details on what happened there!

Above the clouds

It did clear up somewhat, but never enough for us to spot the mountain. We saw the cable car which we had taken the day before. It was well worth going up. And if you want some perspective of the size of some of the cars, check this out. This is a five seater car and was the curtesy car from the Four Seasosn. 

A tiny car

While we were up top, M was researching where the Four Seasons was because apparently that was the location in some of the White Lotus shows. I’ve never watched, never heard of it, but she wanted to see the hotel.

On our way down, we were coordinating with DH who went to the civil wedding ceremony. It was his sister after all who was getting married. 

We had been thinking about an omelette for lunch when DH said we were invited to the after wedding lunch for family only. Can you imagine where it was located? Yep —- the Four Seasons. M was beyond herself with glee and as we arrived, she was taking pictures of this or that where the filming had taken place. 

And yes —- we were in our walking clothes not dressed up at all, but seriously — who cares!!!!

The Four Seasons Hotel

The GPS gave us funny walking instructions to the restaurant and we ended up walking completely around the building. And this is one of the guest room doors on the main floor. It looks very medievalish!!!! And as you can see the doors are small!!!!

Me outside a guest door at the Four Seasons

The lunch was amazing and we were very blessed to be able to take part in the lunch. Here’s a picture of my tiramisu, which was decadent. 

A very decadent lunch

And here is the happy couple. This is one of three outfits that she wore. 

The happy couple

Back to our apartment where it was now time to get dressed for the fun wedding. We had to walk about 1 km to get a shuttle bus that would take us to the venue. The venue was outside of Taormina and it was beautiful. She worked with a wedding planner and the attention to detail was amazing. From our persepective, everything went off without a hitch. 

The guests at the wedding

Many of the guests wore pink and it was all very pretty. Here is my jacket in case you want to see what it looks like. 

My jacket

The back of the jacket

I wore the scarf with it and it all worked out beautifully. I’m glad I persevered to make it, but I will rethink plans like that for future events. There was a quick ceremony officiated by one of their friends. They were officially married earlier in the day, so this was a pretend wedding. But it was beautiful and their vows to each other were beautiful. Very heartfelt and it sounds like they were made for each other. 

I had brought shoes to wear but wore my Teva sandals to the wedding. I was not walking a KM in those things. When I arrived and saw the uneven grass and cobble stones, I just wore my Teva sandals. So comfy and my pants were long enough and I was NOT the star of the show, so who really cared what I wore on my feet. 

It was nice because his daughters stood up for him, while my SIL's kids stood up for her. And they were walked down the aisle by their children which I thought was very special. 

The official wedding party

Another amazing dinner and more food!!! Although I think the lunch was much larger than the dinner, but that’s OK. 

Then off to cut the cake. 

Cutting the cake

And finally dancing to end the evening. We had shuttles to pick us up and bring us back to the town. We were on the second shuttle as I was getting tired and wanted to get to bed. Since when am I out after midnight? 

Then DH and I had to walk that same KM back through the streets to get to the apartment. But all was good. There was some construction happening and a few people still wandering around at that time. 

The streets were mostly empty at midnight

Just to prove that it was after idnight, there’s the clock. In one of the city gates. 

The town clock

WOW —- what a beautiful day and so nice that so many family members on both sides could attend and their close friends as well. A very special day for so many. There are still events planned for today and tomorrow and we are working in things that we want to see between those events. 

We were planning on going to the amphitheater this morning, but it is raining and I don’t know that I really want to go out. We have umbrellas, but still. Plus it is cold (cool) and people are wearing puffy jackets. I swear, I need to throw my orange jacket in my bag wherever I go. You never know when it can come in handy!!And it packs small and light. I MUST remember in the future. 

And that kind of sums up the day!!! I’m tired this morning and after writing the blog, I think I might go back and see if I can get some more sleep. 

Have a wonderful day!!!

Ciao!!!!

Wait —- one more picture. Here are the teeny stairs in our apartment. I’ve no idea how they get stuff upstairs - perhaps through the window. Every where I’ve been in Europe (or many personal spaces) have teeny stairs!