Today we docked at Messina, Sicily, which was a last minute change in plans because the water was too rough for tendering in the small port of Taormina where we were supposed to dock. Messina is a large deep port where we could tie up right at the dock. Messina, with 300,000 inhabitants, is the third largest city in Sicily. It is right on the narrow, 3 km wide, Strait of Messina that separates the island of Sicily from the mainland of Italy.
Here are a couple of shots of Messina taken from the ship.
Our adventure today was a trip by bus, gondola, then a 4 wheel drive bus, to the top of the ski mountain in Sicily. Who knew they skied in Sicily? Surprisingly, they still have lots of snow up there, even now, probably 20 feet deep or so. But we couldn't ski for two reasons. First, we had not brought our ski equipment. Second, all the snow is covered with fine, black, crumbled lava. The lava acts as an insulator, so the deep snow stays all summer.
What you may have guessed by now, is that the ski mountain is Mount Etna, a still active volcano.
First we took a regular ski gondola to the top of the ski area. Here is a poor quality photo from the gondola as went up.
From there on you travel to the top of Mount Etna in special four-wheel drive buses with large wheels and plenty of ground clearance. You can see the depth of the snow in these pictures taken from the bus. You can also see how dirty it is from the crumbled and powdery lava rocks.
Here are the two intrepid travellers as close to the top of Etna as allowed. Etna actually has three peaks, which you can see in the background.
The three peaks of Etna are constantly venting, which reduces the pressure build-up below and, accordingly, reduces the chance of eruptions. But, obviously it does not reduce the chance to zero. The latest eruption was in 2002 and happened some distance away from the three main peaks. They insist an eruption can not strike twice in the same place because the underground vents to that place collapse after the eruption, so they have opened this area for tourists. We hoped they were right.
Here is the crater from the 2002 eruption. It is still steaming from the heat below.
We completely circumnavigated the 2002 crater, which involved a nasty climb up a narrow ridge in a howling gale (read 5-club wind), The long slow line of people inching their way up the trail reminds me of every picture I have seen recently of Mount Everest. I'm not saying it is quite the same; I am just saying it reminds me.
Our hike involved a close-up look at a couple of lava bombs. These are round chunks of lava that were hurled out of the crater during the eruption.
It also gave us a good birds-eye view of the switchback road to the top. It doesn't look very steep in the picture, but trust us, it was.
A latte and a gooey chocolate croissant half way down the mountain was the perfect way to recover from the mountain climbing.
And a rendition of an aria from Cavalliria Rusticana by our very Sicilian guide was the perfect way to end the trip.
Obviously nothing grows at the top of Mount Etna because of the altitude; 11,000 feet at the top, 9,000 feet where we were. However, lower down the lava provides a lush environment in which to grow all kinds of produce. Most residents are fishermen or farmers and use or share with friends much of what they grow.
Here are a couple of shots of Messina taken from the ship.
Our adventure today was a trip by bus, gondola, then a 4 wheel drive bus, to the top of the ski mountain in Sicily. Who knew they skied in Sicily? Surprisingly, they still have lots of snow up there, even now, probably 20 feet deep or so. But we couldn't ski for two reasons. First, we had not brought our ski equipment. Second, all the snow is covered with fine, black, crumbled lava. The lava acts as an insulator, so the deep snow stays all summer.
What you may have guessed by now, is that the ski mountain is Mount Etna, a still active volcano.
First we took a regular ski gondola to the top of the ski area. Here is a poor quality photo from the gondola as went up.
From there on you travel to the top of Mount Etna in special four-wheel drive buses with large wheels and plenty of ground clearance. You can see the depth of the snow in these pictures taken from the bus. You can also see how dirty it is from the crumbled and powdery lava rocks.
Here are the two intrepid travellers as close to the top of Etna as allowed. Etna actually has three peaks, which you can see in the background.
The three peaks of Etna are constantly venting, which reduces the pressure build-up below and, accordingly, reduces the chance of eruptions. But, obviously it does not reduce the chance to zero. The latest eruption was in 2002 and happened some distance away from the three main peaks. They insist an eruption can not strike twice in the same place because the underground vents to that place collapse after the eruption, so they have opened this area for tourists. We hoped they were right.
Here is the crater from the 2002 eruption. It is still steaming from the heat below.
We completely circumnavigated the 2002 crater, which involved a nasty climb up a narrow ridge in a howling gale (read 5-club wind), The long slow line of people inching their way up the trail reminds me of every picture I have seen recently of Mount Everest. I'm not saying it is quite the same; I am just saying it reminds me.
Our hike involved a close-up look at a couple of lava bombs. These are round chunks of lava that were hurled out of the crater during the eruption.
It also gave us a good birds-eye view of the switchback road to the top. It doesn't look very steep in the picture, but trust us, it was.
A latte and a gooey chocolate croissant half way down the mountain was the perfect way to recover from the mountain climbing.
And a rendition of an aria from Cavalliria Rusticana by our very Sicilian guide was the perfect way to end the trip.
Obviously nothing grows at the top of Mount Etna because of the altitude; 11,000 feet at the top, 9,000 feet where we were. However, lower down the lava provides a lush environment in which to grow all kinds of produce. Most residents are fishermen or farmers and use or share with friends much of what they grow.
As you can see in the picture above, a lot of the fields are terraced with rock walls because they are on the side of a mountain. Our guide claims that if all the rock walls in Sicily were put end to end, they wquld be longer than the Great Wall of China. Do you think?
Cheers till tomorrow, P&G.
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