Totally worth it, as the kids say. Totally.
I had promised several things, including castles and volcanos. That's out of the way. I had also promised puppets, but I don't know if that's going to happen - probably not, because the Palermo Puppet Museum has changed its hours and is only open in the evenings, and I'm not sure we'll get to Siracusa. Oh well. Joseph has announced he doesn't think he's up for life-sized puppets anyway. He thinks they might scare him. I understand.
Back to Mount Etna.
It was not at all what I expected, although I really did only have the vaguest expectations. I've never been to any volcano before and had only seen photos of Mt. Etna. It was fascinating -even though weather prohibited us from doing a really complete tour up close to the top.
Once again, it's too late and I'm too tired to do an extensive analysis, so this will be brief.
Here's the thing: Sicily is, obviously, an island. We have spent our time in the west and in the center. It is arid and rocky. The predominant colors are beige and brown, with pale green olive trees and darker green vineyard coursing over the hills and grey rocks and hills jutting violently up to the heavens.
And then, an hour from where we are, this:
These photos don't do it justice. The vegetation changes completely, the temperature drops dramatically, and the soil is the blackest you have ever seen.
It's like driving from California to New England in the course of an hour.
Here's how it works, on the south end of Mt. Etna, just north of Nicolosi: You drive to a point at which there are restaurants and souvenir shops, and the cable cars start. You take a cable car up about 1500 feet or so, over a crater coursing with old lava flows and burgeoning vegetation.
You could walk it if you wanted:
But that wasn't in our realm of possibility.
You then get up to another level where, for another ticket, you can ride what they call "jeeps" but are really small buses to yet another, higher level and see active craters and so on.
We got up to that first level, walked around a bit, noted the jackets and boots for rent, and then decided, after conversing with another American, that we'd do the next level. Too bad!
The weather, they claimed, had gone bad, so they probably would not be going up any more. I went back and forth between the ticket seller in the cafe, who spoke little English, to the drivers by the buses, who spoke none, trying to get a straight story. At first the ticket seller just wouldn't sell me a ticket until she heard from her "colleague" outside. The colleague just kept indicating to me that I needed to buy a ticket. I kept trying to tell him that she wouldn't sell me a ticket until she heard from him that it was all a go. Back and forth, back and forth, until finally, the bus drivers put covers on the turnstiles and I decided that it was definitely not going to happen. (rain they said - and it is truly an issue - they weren't cheap tickets, and visiblity is a problem. But still, I couldn't help being suspicious as the sun came out and the drivers still didn't leave their little clubhouse....)
No problem. I had not built up that part of it, knowing the unpredictability, and so no one was terribly disappointed, except perhaps the Norweigan who had been my companion in trying to sort all of this out, who grumbled, "The only thing these people are professional about is taking your money!"
Back down we went, bought souvenirs (see below), then discovered there were nearby craters to explore. So explore we did:
Just a few more photos before I hit the sack, with one last day in this spot tomorrow - sadly enough. I was going to go to Enna, but our hostess is really determined that we are to go to Cefalu - she has mentioned it hopefully every day - "Did you go to Cefalu?" - so who knows.
Between Caltanissetta and Enna
Taking in the sun in Nicolosi
We had lunch when we arrived at the spot where you take the cable cars, and I must say, it was great.
Mixed Antipasto = heaven.
And of course, shrines. Speaking of heaven:
In a wall right across from the Silvestri Crater
On Mt. Etna.
We got up to that first level, walked around a bit, noted the jackets and boots for rent, and then decided, after conversing with another American, that we'd do the next level. Too bad!
The weather, they claimed, had gone bad, so they probably would not be going up any more. I went back and forth between the ticket seller in the cafe, who spoke little English, to the drivers by the buses, who spoke none, trying to get a straight story. At first the ticket seller just wouldn't sell me a ticket until she heard from her "colleague" outside. The colleague just kept indicating to me that I needed to buy a ticket. I kept trying to tell him that she wouldn't sell me a ticket until she heard from him that it was all a go. Back and forth, back and forth, until finally, the bus drivers put covers on the turnstiles and I decided that it was definitely not going to happen. (rain they said - and it is truly an issue - they weren't cheap tickets, and visiblity is a problem. But still, I couldn't help being suspicious as the sun came out and the drivers still didn't leave their little clubhouse....)
No problem. I had not built up that part of it, knowing the unpredictability, and so no one was terribly disappointed, except perhaps the Norweigan who had been my companion in trying to sort all of this out, who grumbled, "The only thing these people are professional about is taking your money!"
Back down we went, bought souvenirs (see below), then discovered there were nearby craters to explore. So explore we did:
Just a few more photos before I hit the sack, with one last day in this spot tomorrow - sadly enough. I was going to go to Enna, but our hostess is really determined that we are to go to Cefalu - she has mentioned it hopefully every day - "Did you go to Cefalu?" - so who knows.
Between Caltanissetta and Enna
Taking in the sun in Nicolosi
We had lunch when we arrived at the spot where you take the cable cars, and I must say, it was great.
Mixed Antipasto = heaven.
And of course, shrines. Speaking of heaven:
In a wall right across from the Silvestri Crater
On Mt. Etna.
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AMAZING
I have so been vicariously enjoying your trip. What a beautiful memory-maker for your children.
Something similar in the states is the Meteor Crater site in AZ. It's an official National Park. Astronauts have trained there. It's off I-40 between Winslow and Flagstaff. My huz just loved it! [pre-kid era] We might stop by there with our boys as we'll be down at the Grand Canyon this summer.
I am enjoying your travelogue! Enjoy yourselves.
Did you know that in the Middle Ages it was popularly believed that Mt Etna was the opening to Purgatory? It's in LeGoff's book.
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