Well! What a 24 hours or so since we wrote last!
It all started when we decided to take the car and head out for some dinner. It was only around a kilometre away from the hotel, but a very steep walk back up the hill afterwards and my lungs haven’t recovered enough from the bug I had before we came away to tackle that! It was going to be straight forward enough – the pizzeria is on the same road as our b and b, so we just had to go down the drive, turn right, drive down the hill and we’d be there. Why would we need a map or the SATNav?? Except, when we got to the bottom of the drive, we realised the road was one way. In the wrong direction. We decided to go for it and follow our noses, as it’s not a huge village. Sure enough, we found our way back to the main square and knew the way from there. Except now the road with the pizzeria on it, and the route back up to our hotel, was closed (so that the restaurants could have their tables and chairs outside) and our way was barred by a barrier and an Italian policeman, who was carrying a gun! There didn’t seem to be any parking available nearby. After around 30 minutes of driving round in circles, trying to find our way either to the pizzeria or back to the hotel, we decided to ask the policeman for directions. Initially, he didn’t have a clue where our hotel was at all, so he made a phone call. Then he gave us directions which we knew would take us the wrong way down a one-way street. Agh! By this time, we were panicking slightly that we wouldn’t even be able to get back to the hotel until the restaurants shut! At this point, I decided to check my phone (even though we couldn’t get any data). Luckily, Google maps had cached some data when we had been using the wifi at the hotel earlier that day. Phew! 5 minutes later and we’d worked out a new route back to our hotel, found a parking space and settled down in “Food” to order pizza! Tom accidentally ordered a huge starter, and the pizzas were enormous, so we drove back up the hill feeling suitably stuffed and satisfied!
Then came Monday and our trip up Mount Etna. After a wonderful night’s sleep in one of the quietest and darkest hotel rooms either of us have ever stayed in, we were treated to another delicious breakfast on the terrace, including local honey and homemade jam – nom!
We packed the car, set up the SATNav and started on our way. The route up the mountain was stunning, with unbelievable views back down to Catania and the coast. TomTom did its usual trick of trying to send us up the odd private road, but eventually we started to hit the breathtaking volcanic landscape.
No matter how many photos you’ve seen, nothing prepares you for the uniqueness and the sheer power of this. Combined with the strong and fragrant smell of the pine trees, we had to pull over to take photos and drone footage. We then continued on out way, out of the sunshine and up into the clouds and rain that had been shrouding the top third of the mountain since we arrived on Saturday. While we could have been disappointed by the weather, we found that it actually added to the atmosphere of this amazing place.
After more stops for photographs, and as the landscape turned darker and darker, we arrived at the bottom of the funivia. I couldn’t resist the cheesy gift shops, and found a surprisingly cheap bracelet made of volcanic rock.
We then paid the large amount for our tickets (63 euros each!) and boarded the cable car. The journey up was most unspectacular; the mist by this point was so thick that you couldn’t see more than about 10 m away, and the rain had steamed up the windows too. However, we were a jolly group of 6 – us, an Italian couple and a French couple – who were too excited to mind. It’s a surprisingly long cable car journey, probably the longest either of us had done, at nearly 15 minutes. At the top, you are ushered out and into the queue for the “bus” (large jeeps with enormous wheels) to take you up to the furthest point.
Walking out of the cable car station, we felt like we had stepped onto another planet! The ground by this point is completely black, with a mix of fine dust and larger rocks. Even though you are surrounded by tourists, it really is totally otherworldly. And this isn’t even the best bit! We queued for around 10 minutes, watching a steady stream of “buses” fill up and head off, before we reached the front and boarded ourselves. Again, this part of the journey was not much fun. It wouldn’t matter that it’s so bumpy and bouncy, but combined with the thick mist and the steamed up windows, it made us both feel rather sick and we were relieved to jump out at the top, ready to wait for our guide.
Here was even more spectacular, if that is possible! It’s astounding that somewhere so black and bleak can be quite so beautiful! As I’ve already mentioned, what really strikes you is the sheer power of the volcano to have spat out the debris that covers it. There are rocks the size of small cars scattered haphazardly across the landscape.
Gathered together by our guide (who was the spitting image of Wolverine!), we headed up a slope, stopping intermittently for short talks, which he did in Italian, French, Spanish and English! It was often difficult to see what he was talking about, as the mist at this point really was quite intense. At one point, we had descended quite a steep and narrow-ish path, which had ropes on either side. We were presuming that there was a drop on either side, but everything beyond the path just looked white. However, as we stopped and listened to the guide’s talk, the mist suddenly lifted, revealing huge, smoking, volcanic craters on either side of us! This was truly a “wow” moment! Just over 10 years ago, these craters had formed and erupted a mix of hot gases and rocks into the atmosphere, and now we were standing taking photographs of them!
The tour continued up a steep and narrow path with huge drops on either side. For me, this involved several stops to catch my breath and steady my trembling legs, but conquering my fear of heights and slight chest infection was definitely worth walking round the rim of a volcanic crater! There were more stops for information, and the opportunity to stick your hand in the ground to feel the heat (wow wow wow!), before descending back down for the return jeep journey. The rain eased throughout the visit and the mist came and went.
Do we wish it had been sunny? Not really. If it had, we wouldn’t have witnessed that mindboggling moment of the mist lifting, revealing the craters. Do we plan on returning in the future in the sunshine? Oh yes! We had a short time searching for the perfect volcanic rock to take back with us (Tom found a particularly black piece with a ladybird nestled in it!) before fluttering our eyelashes and securing the front seat of the next bus. Well, I was lucky enough to sit right at the front; Tom had to settle for the seat behind! As the rain had stopped at this point, the journey back down was much more fun, if even more bouncy! How on earth the driver spotted the posts that mark the route at times astounded me!
At our hotel that morning, the owner had given us vouchers that meant that our visit included lunch, so, after tasting and purchasing a delicious pistachio liquor and before getting back on the cable car, we handed them in and were rewarded with an enormous sandwich for Tom and an enormous piece of pizza for me, along with a cold drink and a coffee each. We then returned on the funivia, this time with a cable car to ourselves and slightly better views. By the time we reached the car park, the rain had started again, and this time much more heavily (thank goodness for the pack-a-macs we had brought with us!). We quickly bought some local honey and jumped back into the car.
The journey back down was slow, winding and beautiful. The temperature slowly rose again, from about 12o at the very top to around 32o when we passed Taormina! The sun was out, the top was down on the car and we drove happily up the coast to Messina. Monday night’s hotel was just west of Messina and right on the coast. We visited a supermarket in the local town first, which was a bit basic, but supplied us with bread, cheese, meat, salad and wine for dinner.
Now to find our hotel. We knew from reading its reviews that it is notoriously tricky to find, but we had the SATNav!? Surely it would take us right there? Oh no! After a not very pleasant journey along the main coast road (which is littered with huge, smelly and massively overflowing rubbish bins), we turned down a narrow street that took us onto another narrow street that was virtually on the beach. We drove up and down it to no avail. Both getting frustrated, Tom suggested we see if our TomTom could take longitude and latitude. Luckily, it did and we realised we were about 3 kilometres from where we should be! We headed back onto the main road (past the stinking bins), until we found a very small and hidden turning, with a tiny sign to our hotel! Not only was it incredibly narrow at points, but it was also nothing more than a dirt track really!
About a km of bumping and bouncing a swaying later, we finally arrived at Casa a Mare. It really is a “House at the Sea”, as from its gates, you literally cross the road and then you are at the beach! We were lead round to a room at the back of the hotel. This seemed odd. Wherever possible, we had booked rooms with sea views for this holiday. I checked the folder and, sure enough, we had. Poor Tom had the job of going and explaining this to the owner. After very little apology and some bartering from Tom, he managed to convince her that we definitely shouldn’t be paying virtually the same room rate for the dark and poky room she had put us in, and that we deserved a discount for her mistake. She wasn’t overly happy about it, but did eventually agree. Initially, we were both rather upset about the whole thing, as we had been looking forward to eating dinner on the balcony while watching the sun set over the sea. However, we swiftly decided to take our dinner to the beach instead, where we spent a thoroughly lovely evening of me swimming in the sea, Tom taking stunning drone footage of the gorgeous sunset, me taking many photos, and a scrummy tea.
What a day!
Tomorrow, Cefalù. We’re staying two nights there and it will be very nice to settle for a while and have some relaxing time!
Recommendations
Funivia del’Etna and the “bus” tour. It’s expensive, but completely worth every penny. You certainly shouldn’t come to Sicily without visiting Etna in some way!
I think we mentioned it in yesterday’s blog, but Domus Verdiana on the slopes of Etna was a truly wonderful bed and breakfast and cheap too.
NOT the area to the west of Messina, and particularly San Saba, is very grockly (that’s for you Steve!) and run down. It was absolutely fine as a one night stop, but if we were to plan a tour round the coast again, we’d definitely give it a miss.