Our Italian Adventure: Mt Etna

There is nothing like Mt Etna on Sicily. It dominates the skyline for the eastern half of the island, for the western half it is the one distinguishing peak that presides over the horizon. At just over 3000m and active within the last month Mt Etna looms like nothing I've ever witnessed; yesterday we went to within 100m of the summit.

The drive up the south road was remarkable, old lava flows cut and lined with blocks made from the "recently" created rock. Reminded us of our drive on the big island of Hawaii, however we didn't get to the top there. We hurried in to Rifugio Sapienza after a mess of a time trying to mail home stuff from NAS Sigonella. The skylift operates from about 1900m and takes you up to 2500m, from there if you purchased the bus pass also (total was 63Euro each) nice Mercedes buss takes you up to the 2900m mark where a guide meets you for a ~30 minute tour around the top.

First off it was frecaking cold and super windy up there, I'm talking there was still snow on the ground, albeit covered by a thin layer of volcanic sand/rock. But the wind was howling, so much so they were renting jackets at the bus starting point for 3Euro. We had our jackets and were all set, but I tell you the wind howling at 10,000ft is no joke, it was cold.

Naturally it was a little cloudy when we were up there, however the experience was great. We got to see the crater from 2002, the most significant eruption in the last 50 years, as well as walk around some to get a couple pictures.