We were both looking forward to seeing Mt. Etna. Ever since Tanna, we have a new love for volcanoes. Plus, the name brings back fond memories for us. When we were in college (university), there was a nearby restaurant called Etnas with really cheap food that we both ate at often. We both loved it. (As an FYI, we both went to the same school, but didn’t meet until several years after we had both graduated)

Mt. Etna is Europe’s largest volcano at 3350 meters, and one of the most active. It’s biggest recorded eruption was in 1669, when lava flowed for 122 days, engulfing part of Catania and dramatically altering it’s landscape.

We drove back to Catania, exiting the freeway towards the north of the town, then headed east and climbed the mountain. There is development most of the way up the mountain, with lots of private residences. The higher up you go, the thinner the development gets. We passed through a cute little town called Nicolosi (conveniently the name of another restaurant we ate at in college) and shortly beyond, the development pretty well stops.

The dirt here is black. The foliage is weird. There are big sections where nothing grows, and big sections that are dense with growth. Up here there are more pine trees and lots of wild flowers. Some of the barren land is loaded with big black lava rocks, some of it looks to be soil.

We winded up the mountain until we got to the base at 6500 feet. We were surprised to see that the base is a ski resort, but duh, at that elevation is most certainly snows. We parked and were disappointed to see that you could barely make out Catania below through the haze. It is probably a stunning view on a clear day. The air was refreshingly cool, and welcome change from the oppressive heat we have endured since returning from San Diego.

From the base you take a cable car to 2500 feet where you can either hike the rest of the way (4 hours round trip), or take a truck to the top. We went for the lazy option. We went over to the ticket booth and got in line, then once we had tickets in hand went up the stairs to the cable car entrance. It was absolutely packed. Both lines were chaotic, with no orderly rows, just a jumble of people all trying to push their way forward. Since we are not very aggressive in lines, it took us a long, long time to get into a cable car.

The ride in the car was pretty. You could clearly see the base camp below, and a little glimpse of Catania below the base. Clouds were swirling about us. The black mountain peak loomed ever closer as we climbed the cables. Below us it was almost all barren soil, with the occasional patch of wild flowers and a few small clumps of pines that looked to be recently planted. The ski runs were smooth, soft soil, and the area around the runs were laden with piles of assorted size black volcanic rock that had been pushed over to create the runs.

At the cable car station/lodge, we piled out and got into another long, chaotic line for the truck. There was virtually no view from the area surrounding the lodge. The trucks were few and far in between, and a couple of tour groups got priority over the rest of us. Here is a shot of one of the trucks and the fabulous view from the ski lodge.

The weather here was much cooler, and we both needed to put our jackets on. Eventually, we boarded a truck that took us up the hill. We were let off near the top peak. The peak was belting out steady stream of white smoke. A second stream of smoke was coming from a small peak at the base of the bigger peak. There was no lava to be seen, no deep rumbling of the earth.

We were right next to a crater, and were directed to a tour group congregated at the base of the crater. The wind was whipping and it was downright cold up here. We joined the group. Everyone was surrounded around a small hole in the ground that gave off small but steady belches of smoke. The guides were talking away in Italian and German, probably giving all kinds of interesting history, statistics and facts. No English. Hmmm. The tour was included in the truck fee, and we wanted an English tour. We went back to the small shed that housed the tour office. It was empty. Hmmm. We ventured out on our own, following the other groups of tourists as they climbed up to the edge of the crater and walked around it. At the bottom of the crater was a small hole letting out a steady stream of smoke. This is it? Just smoke? Where is the lava shooting over our heads? We guess we were spoiled in Tanna.

We walked around the whole crater, enjoying the view. As far as the eye could see, it was barren black lava. Here and there were some patches of yellow and red, probably from sulfur and iron. They shone in the morning light, looking like gold and copper. There were also just a couple small flecks of white about. It was quite pretty. Walking around warmed us up and we started to adjust to the cold.

After the crater, most tourists got back in the trucks and left. There were a few people following a path that looked to walk around the peak. We followed it for a while. The scenery was more of the same, endless expanses of barren black soil. The trail got progressively rockier, so we eventually turned back, well before getting to the end.

It really is amazing to think about how far reaching this volcano is. It has shaped the landscape all the way to Catania to the west, and far beyond in the other three directions. We are guessing the barren areas around us are where there has been more recent lava flow, and that the land has not had enough time to regenerate itself. And it is barren as far as the eye can see from up here.

We headed back down the mountain, searching for a restaurant for lunch. All looked closed, so we went back to Siracusa. What is it with all the closed restaurants? Our overall evaluation is that Mt. Etna was an OK attraction, and definitely not worth the $75 USD each it cost to get up there. The fact that the lines were so long and disorderly made it a less enjoyable experience. We also felt a little ripped off because we didn’t get the guided tour.

In Greece, Turkey and Italy the very large grocery stores that are commonplace in America, with a million types of foods and brands, are always way outside of town. In town the grocery stores are small, but they generally have an adequate selection of basic common foods. We decided to take advantage of having a car and went to a grocery store in the outskirts of Siracusa. We spent hours in the store, oohing and aaahing over the things you don’t see in the grocery stores in town, like our favorite brands of ice cream. We did a major food stock up.

With so much food aboard, we decided to go out to dinner again. We went back to the restaurant we ate at the first day. We got calamari stuffed with ricotta cheese. It was really good. We are including a picture because the presentation is something you just don’t ever see in America.