Italian Holiday :: Day 5 :: Mt Etna, Sicily

Thank goodness ... an unbroken night's sleep at last!  I think I have finally overcome jet lag.  We woke at a reasonably early time of 6:30am and went down for breakfast at 7:30.  At 8:30, we were picked up by our tour guide for the day, Egidio Ferraro, who took us on an amazing excursion to Mt Etna.

First, we drove up the mountainside and through Egidio's home town of Linguaglossa.  There were lots of orchards there, growing oranges, lemons, limes, grapes, olives and prickly pear (which has a delicious fruit, if you can get to the flesh!).

Egidio explained that during the last great eruption of the volcano in October 2002, lava flowed to within 20 metres of the closest house in this town.

While we were there, Egidio bought us each a confectionary which is a speciality of this town - Pasta di Nicciola.  It was like a hazlenut macaroon - scrumptious!!

We drove higher up the north face of Mt Etna and as the temperature dropped, the landscape and vegetation began to change.  We saw oak trees (three different types), chestnuts, pines, ferns, Scotch broom and birch (which is unique in this area and found nowhere else in Southern Italy).

Then we stopped to explore some caves which had been formed by lava flows.  These caves were very old and were called "Robbers Caves" because legend has it that robbers would hide in them when they were being pursued by the law.

We had to wear hard hats because the ceilings of the caves were very low and were covered with stalactites which were quite sharp.  It was very dark and cool down there and water dripped from the stalactites onto the stone floor, making a plop, plop sound - quite eerie!

The caves were quite deep, but luckily there had been some steps carved into some of them, making it a little easier to enter and exit.

While the lava was flowing underground, forming the caves, there would sometimes be a build-up of steam which would explode up through the earth to the surface, forming long thin chimneys.

After we had explored the caves for a while, we headed further up the mountain to about 1750m high and stopped in at a place called Rifugio Citelli, where we stopped for a cuppa.  We were at the base of the Sud Est Crater and the view of the lava flow was incredible!

The manager there was named Riccardo and he was extremely friendly.  We told him our son's name was the English version of his - Richard.

Riccardo was very proud to show us his display of gourmet preserves, jams and jellies by a local company called Terre Nere and we were delighted when he offered us a tasting!

There were the most wonderful pots of things like Arance Sanguinello con Miele di Zagara e Pistacchi (sounds fantastic, doesn't it?), which is a marmalade of Sanguinello oranges with orange blossom honey and pistachios, and Marsala con Miele Millefiori e Cioccolato Fondente (I just kept asking him what they were called, because I liked hearing the sound of them!), which is a wine jelly of Marsala with wild flower honey and dark chocolate.

We eventually bought two yummy little pots:  Amarene con Miele di Zagara e Nero d'Avola (black cherries with orange blossom honey and Nero d'Avola wine) and Crema di Castagne con Miele di Zagara Cannella e Caffe (chestnut cream with orange blossom honey cinnamon and coffee) - Wayne's choice, but absolutely delicious!  I could have eaten the whole pot with a spoon!

Riccardo gave us a brochure which explained about these jams, jellies and conserves.  We read that Terre Nere sourced its ingredients only from small, local producers on Mt Etna and respected the natural rhythm of the seasons, never using frozen or green housed, but only freshly-picked fruit.  They also use only natural preservatives and sweeteners, like sugar, honey and freshly-squeezed lemon juice.  We're always happy to support the small, local farmers!!

These are both images from Google ...

Then, it was onward and upward!!  We passed a place where the 2002 lava flow destroyed a whole village called Piano Provenzana (luckily the residents had enough warning to evacuate and no one was killed!) ...

... we didn't actually take them (of course)!

We took this one, though - this is all that's left of the village!

... and stopped at the base of a large crater called Frumento delle Concazze.

Huff, puff ... must go back to the gym when we get home!

Here we hopped out and trekked up the side of one of the seventy small craters that have formed on the mountain.  This one had lava from an eruption in 1865 and Egidio explained that sometimes the magma explosions would go up to 2km into the air!

Even though there was barely any vegetation this high up, apart from pine trees (which Egidio explained were used not only for their timber, but also for their resin), we discovered goats high up on these craters.




I thought at first they were wild goats, but Egidio pointed out their collars and bells and explained that they were owned by local dairy farmers who made various delicious goats cheeses.

When we reached the top of this crater, the view was spectacular and it was so beautifully quiet and tranquil!  There was almost absolute silence, apart from the gentle whistling of the wind through the pines, the distant twittering of some little birds, the bleating of the goats and the gentle clanging of their brass collar bells.

The atmosphere was incredible and as the breeze was warm (being early Autumn in southern Italy), I could have stayed there for hours!

But, after about 15 minutes of standing and absorbing this superb atmosphere, Egidio said there was more to see and we must move on.  So we returned to the car and headed off, further up the mountain and stopped at the base of the chair lift, where there are some cafes and tourist-type shops which had been rebuilt since 2002.

From here, Wayne and I had the opportunity to take the chairlift even further up the mountain ...

... where we were able to see at even closer-hand the incredible destructive force of the eruption and lava flows.

Again, we were struck by the silence of the place, as we drifted upwards on the cable ...







... the seat swinging gently in the warm breeze ...

... and I contemplated how wonderful life is and important it is to appreciate it fully and get the most out of it while we can, as it can all be swept away in an instant.

Mariella & Jessica demonstrating how to eat sausage.

Once we had returned to the bottom of the chair lift, we rejoined Egidio in the cafe for lunch.  I had a toasted cheese foccacia and Egidio and Wayne sampled a locally made pork sausage salsiccia al ceppo, cooked especially for them by Mariella and Jessica in the cafe.  Egidio explained that Mariella and Jessica were his cousins and for some reason that I was incapable of comprehending, it was necessary for these young girls to demonstrate how to eat the sausage while Wayne and Egidio stood and watched.

Edigio and Veronica.

After lunch, we went next door to visit Veronica (apparently another cousin of Egidio's - I think I'm perceiving a pattern here!), to enjoy a tasting of locally produced wines, liqueurs and conserves.  They were delicious and we purchased a lovely pot of Crema Spalmabile al Pistacchio - which tasted like a better, creamier Nuttella - and a bottle of Fichera Crema di Pistacchio - a liqueur made from pistachio nuts which was absolutely magnificent - like a rich nutty Baileys!!

Veronica was a really lovely person and I enjoyed her showing us her wares, which included a surprising collection of trinkets, souvenirs and jewellery made from the lava itself!  I fell in love with a gorgeous lava & pearl necklace with matching earrings and bracelet - so unique and a special memento of our day on Mt Etna (the lava) and our seaside holiday in Taormina (the pearls).  The contrast between the cool, shiny pearls and the warm, slightly rough lava which seems to absorb light is most stunning!  Whenever I wear this jewellery, I will be reminded of the wonderful time we had here.

Then is was time to head off back down the mountain, but not before popping in to visit yet another of Egidio's cousins, Salvo and his lovely donkeys who would have taken us on a donkey trek of the mountain, had we wished.

Apparently, the wearing of flat caps is a requirement when taking photos with Salvo's donkeys.

So, off down the mountain road we went, taking in more amazing views of lava flows as well as some medieval villages like Castiglione di Sicilia, which is built into the side of the mountain out of calcary stone and has 2,500 inhabitants.





We stopped on the way home to take in the Alcantara Gorge, another feature of the landscape which was forged by the lava flows ...








... and then we were dropped back to our hotel at 4:00pm - just in time to put our feet up and appreciate the day with a hot cuppa!













Egidio Ferraro was a wonderful host to us today and he is a lovely young man.  Even though he has taken ten lessons already, his English is not yet fluent, but he was able to give us all the information we required to really understand the experiences we were taking in.  He was generous enough to share with us information about his own life and his lovely young family and he and Wayne also compared the ownership of a small business in Australia and Italy.  I would have to say that having Egidio as our guide was an enriching experience.

Egidio's business is called Alternative Etna and he offers not only guided tours of Mt Etna, but also airport transfers and other more energetic experiences on the mountain like mountain-bike riding and cross-country skiing in the Winter.  I would have no hesitation in recommending him, should you find yourself in the Catania region (www.alternativetna.com).

Later in the evening, Wayne popped out to one of the local providori and picked up some lovely local crisp breads, cheeses, olives, proscuito, wine and fruit and we had a picnic on our bed.  The balcony doors were open and the curtains were drifting lazily in the warm breeze.  All of a sudden, the sounds of Beethoven and Mozart came booming through the doors and we wondered what on earth was happening.  We went out onto the balcony to see a fireworks display down on the bay, accompanied by classical music which was bouncing against the hills like a natural amphitheatre and coming straight into our room.  We stood there, wine glasses in hand, thoroughly enjoying this unexpected performance which finished off our amazing day just perfectly!