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| Mt. Etna-our goal |
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| On the Volcano |
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| Hot Chocolate |
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| Our Lady Saves Restaurant |
March 24, 2014
Success!
We surmounted the mount. We still have a too large car (needed it for luggage) with a poor turning radius, but there was no gasping today. Judi said she didn't verbalize her anxiety yesterday, but her facial expressions conveyed her angst. Despite road signs with towns printed only on one side, in spite of our Garmin dying mid-highway then resurrecting itself, even though we had to resort to using a combination of paper maps, Google Maps, & intuition, we aimed our car uphill & towards My. Etna. Always in sight, we figured it was too big to miss. Did we make wrong turns? Yes. Did we correct our errors quickly? Yes! Did we aim high & succeed? Yes!
We climbed the mountain on a surprisingly fine road & wondered why we were scaling an erupting volcano. Populated towns changed to isolated dwellings, which became barren fields of hardened lava flow & rocks above the tree line. We gazed down at the shore & cities as clouds thickened & the air cooled.
We arrived at the Funivia del Etna (funicular) & bought a pass to the end of the line. We waited as Judi finessed her travel purse out of a secret pocket in her jacket, which was under her coat. It took two of us to maneuver it back into its secure hidey hole. We were advised by Londoners we met yesterday that the additional ticket to ride a huge all-terrain vehicle just got us a bit higher & into slushy snow. No one was going to the top during the eruption.
Judi was seated opposite us in the funicular & wanted to take our picture. As we leaned in towards each other we realized that she'd get a very good shot of the pole between us. Maybe you had to be there, but we collapsed into giggles. The cable car stopped frequently, wind howled, & snow flew. I was hoping for hot cocoa when we arrived at the end of the line, but was greeted by a tasting station. We tried strawberry liqueur (too much alcohol) & pistachio (actually tasty), but didn't buy any.
We walked out onto a mess of black sand, ash, rocks, & slush. The wind was stronger & we didn't dally. Mt. Etna’s peak was no longer visible, but we felt victorious in getting as far as we did.
My hope for cocoa was answered when the barista knew exactly what we wanted. She served us their version in an eight ounce cup with a spoon. It looked & tasted like the inside of molten lava cake. It was the consistency of dark chocolate pudding before it chills. It was the nectar of the gods. None of us could finish it but we were loath to leave it behind. I asked if they had a lid for the cup, but, alas, they didn't. Taking pity on us, the barista swathed each cup in plastic wrap for its next life as tomorrow's snack. We had fun!
We'd taken a potty break at Ristorante Villa Angelo Musco on the way up, & they were so nice we said we'd return for lunch. We did. They had a limited Sunday menu so we chose pizza Margherita over a multi-course meal. I guess the place was lucky to be standing. A mural attested to the near miss of a lava flow. It showed people kneeling in thanks before a wall of lava on which stood the Virgin Mary. Moving if not high art.
The trip back was a piece of cake no matter the rain. David graciously pulled over so a honking driver could pass only to be behind him at an intersection at that driver's moment of indecision. David waited a decent interval before leaning on his horn. He said it was cathartic.
I won't be sorry to leave this hotel bathroom behind. We killed a roach there last night. No matter how we angle it, the shower sprays out over the top of the doors onto our toiletries & the electrical outlet. I can't bend over in front of the sink because my rear hits the shower door. I've tried to open them but it's still a bad fit. Somehow Judi scored a larger bathroom with a tub. Hot water is an issue, but sometimes the second person to shower gets more.
We're enjoying our later starts (8:30 wake up) with no tour director goading us to rise & shine at ungodly hours. Tomorrow we take off for Siracusa
Toby
We surmounted the mount. We still have a too large car (needed it for luggage) with a poor turning radius, but there was no gasping today. Judi said she didn't verbalize her anxiety yesterday, but her facial expressions conveyed her angst. Despite road signs with towns printed only on one side, in spite of our Garmin dying mid-highway then resurrecting itself, even though we had to resort to using a combination of paper maps, Google Maps, & intuition, we aimed our car uphill & towards My. Etna. Always in sight, we figured it was too big to miss. Did we make wrong turns? Yes. Did we correct our errors quickly? Yes! Did we aim high & succeed? Yes!
We climbed the mountain on a surprisingly fine road & wondered why we were scaling an erupting volcano. Populated towns changed to isolated dwellings, which became barren fields of hardened lava flow & rocks above the tree line. We gazed down at the shore & cities as clouds thickened & the air cooled.
We arrived at the Funivia del Etna (funicular) & bought a pass to the end of the line. We waited as Judi finessed her travel purse out of a secret pocket in her jacket, which was under her coat. It took two of us to maneuver it back into its secure hidey hole. We were advised by Londoners we met yesterday that the additional ticket to ride a huge all-terrain vehicle just got us a bit higher & into slushy snow. No one was going to the top during the eruption.
Judi was seated opposite us in the funicular & wanted to take our picture. As we leaned in towards each other we realized that she'd get a very good shot of the pole between us. Maybe you had to be there, but we collapsed into giggles. The cable car stopped frequently, wind howled, & snow flew. I was hoping for hot cocoa when we arrived at the end of the line, but was greeted by a tasting station. We tried strawberry liqueur (too much alcohol) & pistachio (actually tasty), but didn't buy any.
We walked out onto a mess of black sand, ash, rocks, & slush. The wind was stronger & we didn't dally. Mt. Etna’s peak was no longer visible, but we felt victorious in getting as far as we did.
My hope for cocoa was answered when the barista knew exactly what we wanted. She served us their version in an eight ounce cup with a spoon. It looked & tasted like the inside of molten lava cake. It was the consistency of dark chocolate pudding before it chills. It was the nectar of the gods. None of us could finish it but we were loath to leave it behind. I asked if they had a lid for the cup, but, alas, they didn't. Taking pity on us, the barista swathed each cup in plastic wrap for its next life as tomorrow's snack. We had fun!
We'd taken a potty break at Ristorante Villa Angelo Musco on the way up, & they were so nice we said we'd return for lunch. We did. They had a limited Sunday menu so we chose pizza Margherita over a multi-course meal. I guess the place was lucky to be standing. A mural attested to the near miss of a lava flow. It showed people kneeling in thanks before a wall of lava on which stood the Virgin Mary. Moving if not high art.
The trip back was a piece of cake no matter the rain. David graciously pulled over so a honking driver could pass only to be behind him at an intersection at that driver's moment of indecision. David waited a decent interval before leaning on his horn. He said it was cathartic.
I won't be sorry to leave this hotel bathroom behind. We killed a roach there last night. No matter how we angle it, the shower sprays out over the top of the doors onto our toiletries & the electrical outlet. I can't bend over in front of the sink because my rear hits the shower door. I've tried to open them but it's still a bad fit. Somehow Judi scored a larger bathroom with a tub. Hot water is an issue, but sometimes the second person to shower gets more.
We're enjoying our later starts (8:30 wake up) with no tour director goading us to rise & shine at ungodly hours. Tomorrow we take off for Siracusa
Toby
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