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!!!!