Day 9 - Mt Etna & Zafferana

This day dawned as many others on our trip, sunny and cool. Today we will scale the heights of Mt. Etna, one of Italy's many still active volcanoes. Currently rising to a height of over 10,900 feet, it is the highest peak in Italy south of the Alps. It remains one of the world's most active volcanoes. The last eruption that I found recorded was in March of 2017. We did not intend to spend much time on it's slopes.

We asked Our Lady of the GPS to take us to Etna South and started on our way. I must say that her choice of the route was quite perplexing as it took us up narrow and, for the most part, deserted streets. However, Looking toward Acireale from the side of Mt Etna it was soon obvious that we were in fact headed in the right direction so we sat back and enjoyed the trip.

As we climbed higher, we began to encounter old lava beds along the sides of the road as the outside temperature got colder. This lava is not the smooth Pahoehoe lava often found in Hawaii, but the sharp A’a lava that cuts the soles of your shoes.

As we continued to climb, the moisture also increased and, though we were never really in a cloud they were not far above us. Reaching Etna South we discovered that it was actually a small village including restaurants, hotels and offers to take you to the summit. The signs indicated that it would take a fair amount of walking to reach the summit and showed people in what I can only describe as Alpine attire. A quick vote showed that we unanimously DID NOT wish to go to the summit. So instead we settled for the restoranti/souvenier shop and a cup of cappucino and an arancini. An arancini is simply a ball of rice about the size of a baseball stuffed with anything from fruit to meat and cheese and then coated with bread crumbs and lightly deep fried. Some are shaped to indicate the filling - I saw several shaped like a pear. In fact I initially took them for a fruit until I realized what they were. I opted for one filled with meat, cheese and something green, probably chopped spinach.

For two weeks now, every time we approached a stop, Pam would mention that she wanted a picture with her "I Love Alex" flag. However, we always seemed to be in a hurry and each time would forget it. This time she gripped her flag in her hand until we stopped a little further up the hill for a group shot. As we stood in the chilly rain for the shot, I though of my friend, Alex, who had for years wanted to take a tour group to Italy. (The tie in was Bonnie Prince Charlie who lived out his exile in Italy and never set foot in Scotland except for the two years of 1745-46.) When Alex and I talk on the phone, I call him Alessandro.

La Madonna di Chiesa Madre Santa Maria della Provvidenza

As we started back down the slope, we were offered the chance to hike up to the Silvestri Crater. Sharon, in open toed sandals, wanted to but gave up when she saw the steep climb. I continued on what I thought was a considerable climb for we could see people high up on the lip to the caldera. However, it turned out that they were on the back lip of the caldera and a short climb, though the footing was treacherous, brought me to a point where I could see the bottom of the caldera. It became a great disappointment when the "caldera" turned out to be totally inactive and, in fact, had a dirt floor and a spiral of rocks that someone had placed there.

So we proceeded back down the mountain with two goals in mind. First, we would stop in Zafferana at a wine shop that Matteo had recommended to Merv and then we would proceed to Toarimina, a costal town, for lunch. (Zafferana had been threatened by an eruption back in 1993.) Arriving in Zafferana, we made several circuits of the town looking for a parking garage that Matteo had described to Merv. Finding no organized parking of any kind, we finally were able to park on the street. We walked to the town center where we discovered a lovely church - the Chiesa Madre Santa Maria della Provvidenza (Mother Church of Santa Maria of Providence.)

We strolled down the street hoping we would somehow discover the wine shop (using the blind sow theory as best I could tell). We discovered lovely shops and green grocers that lined the street and, though we never found the wine shop, we all agreed that it was fate that brought us to this place. Oh yeah, though we didn't find the wine shop, we did find an excellent gelateria.

Leaving Zafferana, we made our way to Taormina which proved to be much like the hill towns we visited in Tuscany. We wove through the narrow, winding and hilly streets looking for the rare combination of open ristorante and open parking. We finally found the parking but discovered that the ristoranti did not open till 4pm. We had seen this at other times. Many of the locals eat an early lunch after which the ristoranti close, generally around 1pm. They do not reopen until at least 4pm and, in most cases, 8pm and the locals do not come en masse before about 9pm.

We decided to leave Taormina and proceeded on down the road looking for our meal elsewhere. We finally encountered a small ristorante in Giardini Naxos, the Panificio Bar (the Bakery Bar), that served what we would call cafeteria style meaning that the dishes were already cooked and we selected our meal out of a case. (This is not in conflict with serving good food. After all, when you order lasagna, you hope it is already cooked or you will be a while.) I selected the parmigiana di melanzane and finocchio saltato (eggplant parmigiana and sauted fennel bulbs). I had never eaten fennel like this and the licorice taste of the bulbs was excellent. Of course, Lunch at the Panificio Bar we had a litre of the house red though, I, of course, had to limit my intake since I was the designated, and in fact, only driver.

We all left satisfied with our midday meal and meandered along the coast and the hills back to Acireale. For dinner that night we chose Il Gambaro Pazzo, a restaurant that, while not too far form the house, proved to be quite a challenge to find. However, with the steady guidance of Our Lady, we managed to drive the gauntlet through what appeared to be the remains of rush hour to dinner.

Here, I hoped to find another serving of mussels such as I had found previously. Though not to the same standard, still they were excellent. I had the pasta con scampi di gamberetti (pasta with shrimp scampi). I should point out that, in Italy, shellfish are served in the shell, often with the heads on. This means having to peel the shell and legs before eating. A chore, but often worth the effort. With a glass of wine to top it off, we soon headed back to retire for the night.

However, upon leaving we learned that rush hour, or something very like it, was still in full bloom and we once again had to run the gauntlet, this time through the dark. Our Lady choose to route us through the Piazza Del Duomo where we were the only vehicle. While figuring out how to extricate ourselves from this predicament, someone spied an ATM machine and we stopped to let Merv replenish his wallet. (Actually, he pulled out €100 for me for I had not been able to get my ATM card to work the entire trip. I had authorized it for international service but never got the first lyra while in Italy.)

We then decided to cut across the middle of the piazza since that was the direction to home. After many trials and tribulations, missed turns, some yelling and a few expletives deleted, we made it back to our safe haven where we all decided, after a little repartee, that bed would be the best plan of action.