Mount Etna

Mount Etna with several beautiful crates and a height of 3,300 m remains one of the world's most active. As always with climbing mountains some precautions must be taken: bring warm clothing, sturdy shoes (but not new ones! As it happened to the author, my brand new shoes were apparently a bit tight so after 4 hours of climbing I suddenly realized that my big toe was bleeding! Next day it turned black, 1 month later it turned lilac but remained intact... Lucky me!) and of course sunglasses.

Lava's primary colors are grey and black but nonetheless views are fantastic as the landscape never stays the same, it's everchanging in whirlwind of clouds, smoke and sunshine. AST bus leaves Catania (bus stop at railway station) at 08.15 daily and then mount Etna (back to Catania) at 16.30 It's actually a public bus (stops at every corner) and absolutely overcrowded, not a pleasant journey but rather a necessary one. It takes about an hour to get there, last stop is Rif. Sapienza (1910m). From there you can take a cable car (30 euro return ticket, 15 min trip) and then to walk up to the Torre del Filosofo (~2700m). Also you can take a drive on 4W Jeep but it's an expensive option. At such height the weather could be really unpredictable: sunny now but rainy and cloudy the next moment. As it happened a tick fog covered Etna in a few seconds. So suddenly it happened that though we still heard the voices around us, we could not see anyone! Later I heard that someone had lost his wife in this fog (though I am not sure if he was really upset about it...). If you are lucky you can see red hills or even yellow spots in places (the sulfur). I slipped my hand into one and it felt really hot. I managed to take out a small stone which warmth I felt in my pocket afterwards for some time. If the wind gets stronger you can "beat" it by just lying on the ground on the quieter side of the volcano. It looks dirty but in fact it's not, and it feels very warm - as if you were lying in a relaxation room in some SPA. Just make sure you don't fall asleep!