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After a long, cramped bus ride filled lame jokes, strange road games, and weird conversations we were there. Quickly, we hurried to purchase our water and then we were off to start our trek up the volcano’s slope. After hiking for about fifteen minutes we reached our destination: the south east crater. We listened to the guide give his explanations and then we had picture time. After I took some pictures of friends, I got lost in the view. From there, you could see all of the towns bordering the mountain. I looked down and thought to myself, "These towns seem like they've been here for a long time. How did they survive all of those eruptions?" As we walked down I got a head start watched as Stephanie, Michelle, Angie, Nicole, and Rachel struggled to keep there balance down the steep slope. While, Joe, Raymond, and Matt strolled casually down. By the end my entire body was sore from all of the hiking.
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Here is a picture of Mount Etna is one of the most active volcanoes in the world and is in an almost constant state of eruption. The fertile volcanic soils support extensive agriculture, with vineyards and orchards spread across the lower slopes of the mountain and the broad Plain of Catania to the south. |
Mount Etna (also known as Muncibeddu in Sicilian and Mongibello in Italian, a combination of Latin mons and Arabic gibel, both meaning mountain, in Latin, Aetna) is an active Stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily, close to Messina and Catania. |
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Right after lunch we had and educational meeting. While sitting in that comfortable room with air conditioning and a full stomach I tried hard not to fall asleep. From that meeting I learned a lot about how Mt. Etna erupts and about the many eruptions in the past. After that we headed on the bus for our next destination
After a brief bus ride we arrived in Taormina and headed over to the Greek Theatre. Johnnie Greco and I had a good laugh because on all of the signs toward the theater said Teatre Greco. We scurried to the top of the theatre to admire the marvelous view. It was amazing. The land met the sea and mountains perfectly! I took one look and knew I had to take a picture. After that Johnnie and I joined groups with Matt, Raymond, and Joe for a rendevouz around town. The we went around through the shops and many gelato stands. Gelato is Italian ice cream, and it is absolutly delicious. It comes in many flavors such as Tiramisu, Peach, Watermelon, Melon, Mint, Banana, Strawberry, Vanilla, Chocolat, and Nutella. My personal favorite was to mix strawberry, banana, and nutella. It was very rich ice cream and it seemed to melt in your mouth. After stuffing ourselves full of gelato, we could barely walk. We then burned some calories by raiding all of the local stores searching for a football. There were none in sight. Apparently gridiron isn't exactly a national sport for Italians... so we settled for a soccer ball. After we were done shopping we spent the remaining forty-five minutes at the meeting spot talking and watching street preformers. What a wonderful end to a painful day.
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