Mount Etna

5 July 

On the Saturday I left the flat at 8.30 and wandered down to the local supermarket to buy a few supplies for our day away.  Joel collected me at 9.00 and we headed off towards the south and the coastal town of Tomarrima.  Taking the back road allowed us to see some of the countryside although it was a lot slower.  But our route took us over the mountains that surround the area and after a long and winding route up into the hills we crossed to the opposite side and the ground opened out before us with Etna dominating everything. You can see the volcano from most of the east of the island if you have a clear line of sight although it's not easily seen from most of Milazzo.  From the top of the mountain you could clearly see a clear cloud of steam or smoke blowing away from us.

We headed down towards Torimana with Etna now ever in our view across the fields and trees.  As it turned out it seems we missed the main town - which is billed as retaining an air of exclusiveness - and ended up in a smaller place along the coast; this would explain why the area we ended up in was more lines of umbrellas and cheap hats - although no kiss me quick hats.  

We found a spot on the beach and settled in for a couple of hours; it was hot!  In fact it was so hot that my mobile alerted me to the fact that it has overheated and would not work again until it had cooled down...true!  After a couple of dips in the sea and getting hot enough to know that I would burn we headed off the beach and grabbed a meal and beer in a nearby restaurant before we headed back to Milazzo.

We had decided that we would taken a route back that would allow us to circumnavigate Etna on minor roads so it was slow going and we followed a road that ascended the side of the volcano.  It was interesting to note how the fauna varied - along with the accompanying scents- and at times there were just dark black lava flows with only a few wild flowers.  At the highest point we parked up (strangely there was a large car park and hotel there...) but the landscape was dark and wild and the slope of Etna ascended behind.  After the obligatory photos we made a slow descent down and a relatively late arrival at Milazzo.  

It was another night at the bar, watching the Holland and Costa Rica match on the telly with beer and chips before a late night gelato to celebrate Joel's birthday.  So it was another late night home and even later as I worked on the translation again until 3am...