Mount Etna

After breakfast we walked a short distance to a parking lot where four SUVs were waiting to take us on an excursion to Europe's largest active volcano, Mount Etna. Our local guide was Nicolo, and he gave us his information via two-way radio as the cars traveled in caravan up the mountain.

We were fortunate, Nicolo told us, to have such a perfect day for visiting Etna. The sky was clear, the temperature was moderate, and the winds were light. This is a far cry from our visit here six years ago, when the visibility was poor, it was nasty cold, and the wind was so strong that sometimes we literally could not stand up!

Our first stop was at a turnoff where we could get a view of the four main caldera at the top of the mountain. After we took our photos, Nicolo explained the difference in the various types of basalt that the mountain spews when it erupts.

Essentially, it's all the same stuff, in terms of chemical and mineral makeup -- basalt is basalt. But some blows out as fine particles called ash. Some comes out in bigger particles, volcanic sand. Still more comes out as larger rocks infused the gas, making them porous -- these will break apart in your hands easily. And still more comes out solid. These rocks are so hard that they can't be broken, even with a steel hammer. They can only be cut with a diamond saw.

We continued up the mountain through old growth forest, including oaks, chestnuts, and a variety of birch tree that is unique to this area and very endangered. Our driver also spotted a large mushroom as we drove through the woods. He collected it and said it would be his dinner. We weren't sure if he was joking or not.

At another stop, we got up close to a lava flow that had crossed a road some decades ago, then stopped and cooled. Nicolo explained that lava usually does not come out of the main caldera, like the ash and other basalt. Instead, it flows out of "lateral fissures" -- holes that open on the side of the volcano. The flows move very slowly, but are unstoppable.

After a brief coffee and potty stop at a mountainside lodge, we continued to a trailhead and began a hike. For safety reasons, tourists are no longer allowed near the top caldera, which are at nearly 11,000 feet. We were at just over 5,000 feet, and made our way to a dormant cone on the side of the mountain.

The view was amazing! The atmosphere was so clear that we could see Stromboli -- a volcanic island 75 miles to the north. We also had opportunity to look down into one of the lateral fissures from which lava had flowed during a previous eruption.

After hiking back to the waiting SUVs, we drove a short distance to another mountain lodge. This was another agritourismo, an organic farm catering to tourists. The meal was not as good as some we've had, but there was a lot of food and, again, bottomless pitchers of wine.

Chancel of the Duomo

The SUVs drove us back to Catania where we had the rest of the evening free. Mary and I visited a couple of churches -- the Duomo cathedral and the Church of St. Agatha just across the street. We also visited a fountain fed by an underground river in a corner of the square.

Our friends, Craig and Suzy, invited us to join them for a glass of wine on the "roof garden" on top of our hotel. There is absolutely no garden, but it is the roof. There are some chairs, and the view was pretty nice as the sun was setting. Two other couples from our group were already up there when we arrived, and they, too, were finishing bottles of wine they had bought that they wouldn't be able to take home on the plane.

As the sun set, I noticed a light crossing the sky and thought it moving too fast to be an aircraft. I checked the satellite app on my phone and determined that it was the International Space Station flying by. Mount Etna would surely be visible from space, but we were looking at it up close.