Day 6 - Siracusa & Ortygia
changed to Mount Etna from Day 7
Dominating eastern Sicily is Europe’s highest volcano, Etna, and this morning we take the drive to as near to the snow-capped summit as possible. Ascending the winding road, the landscape becomes increasingly eerie and alien, with razor sharp black rocks in contorted formations, and some areas devoid of almost all vegetation. As we near the cable car station itself you can enjoy extensive views over the whole area. Subject to certain regulations you will have the opportunity to take the cable car, jeep and guide to explore even higher levels. We return to our hotel during the afternoon.
Janet got up a little after 7.30am. I used the bathroom after she vacated it, and we went down for breakfast just after 8.30am. We needed to return to the room, but had failed to allow for delays ascending in three lifts; we told people we passed on their way down that we intended to be on the Etna trip, and arrived at the coach no more than a minute late if indeed we were late at all. It was very hot and sunny again. We initially went the same way as yesterday, more or less south along the Via Nationale, but before getting to the Taormina promontory we turned right onto an access road, doubling back sharply then looping left gently through a tunnel, then emerging to join the Autostrada A18 running parallel to the Via Nationale. We left the Autostrada some 10 miles north of Catania, and wound and zigzagged westwards 10 miles or more up the outer slopes south of Etna, “untidy” old lava-flows (looking like “a giant’s badly dug garden”, a type of landscape familiar to us from Lanzarote). Despite taking a travel-sickness pill,
Janet felt very ill, but recovered quite quickly when we arrived.
Monday 8 June 2015 10:09:58
Views from the coach on the slopes of Etna
Monday 8 June 2015 10:10:10
Views from the coach on the slopes of Etna
Monday 8 June 2015 10:14:36
Views from the coach on the slopes of Etna
Monday 8 June 2015 10:18:00
Views from the coach on the slopes of Etna: “cotton wool” nests of pine processionary moth
(Thaumetopoea pityocampa) caterpillars
We passed between the two cones of the Silvestri Craters, formed in an eruption in 1892 and named after vulcanologist Orazio Silvestri who died two years before, and on past several bars/restaurants, excursion centres, souvenir shops and car parks till we parked outside a restaurant called “La Cantoniera”. It was quite cool here.
Monday 8 June 2015 10:18:56
Views from the coach on the slopes of Etna: one of the Monti Silvestri craters
Monday 8 June 2015 10:20:22
Views from the coach on the slopes of Etna: one of the Monti Silvestri craters
Monday 8 June 2015 10:21:22
Views from the coach on the slopes of Etna: passing tourist facilities
I took a number of photos outside before entering “La Cantoniera”, ordering a coffee, and joining
Janet.
Monday 8 June 2015 10:27:44
View east from “La Cantoniera” of the Silvestri Craters
Monday 8 June 2015 10:27:44 (detail)
View east from “La Cantoniera” of the northern Silvestri Crater
Monday 8 June 2015 10:28:00
Zoomed-in view east from “La Cantoniera” of the northern Silvestri Crater
Monday 8 June 2015 10:28:00 (detail)
Zoomed-in view east from “La Cantoniera” of the northern Silvestri Crater
Monday 8 June 2015 10:28:18
Zoomed-in view east from “La Cantoniera” of the southern Silvestri Crater
Monday 8 June 2015 10:28:18 (detail 1)
Zoomed-in view east from “La Cantoniera” of the southern Silvestri Crater
Monday 8 June 2015 10:28:18 (detail 2)
Zoomed-in view east from “La Cantoniera” of the southern Silvestri Crater
Monday 8 June 2015 10:28:18 (detail 3)
Zoomed-in view east from “La Cantoniera” of the southern Silvestri Crater
Monday 8 June 2015 10:28:40
View south from “La Cantoniera” towards Catania
Monday 8 June 2015 10:29:00
View north: “La Cantoniera”
Image from “La Cantoniera” website
Monday 8 June 2015 10:52:40
“La Cantoniera”
Then we went the short distance to the Funivia dell’Etna station. We purchased tickets for the cable-car, the further off-road bus ride, and guided tour.
Monday 8 June 2015 10:57:18
View south towards Catania
Monday 8 June 2015 11:03:18 Funivia dell’Etna lower station
Monday 8 June 2015 11:03:18 (detail) Funivia dell’Etna lower station
Monday 8 June 2015 11:05:26
Plan of Etna on the Funivia dell’Etna station wall
Monday 8 June 2015 11:05:26 (detail)
Plan of Etna on the Funivia dell’Etna station wall
The lower station where we boarded the cable-car is 1,923 metres (6309ft) above sea-level. We were taken to the upper station,
ca.2,500 metres (ca.8,202ft), where we boarded one of the “jeeps” (a
Mercedes-Benz “Unimog U2450L” 4 x 4 truck chassis with bus coachwork) which took us to the maximum permitted height of 2,920 metres (9,580ft), just south of the central crater — 3,345 metres (10,974 feet).
Route of the Funivia dell’Etna
Monday 8 June 2015 11:08:30
Boarding the Funivia dell’Etna
Monday 8 June 2015 11:10:44
Views from the Funivia dell’Etna
Monday 8 June 2015 11:10:44 (detail)
Views from the Funivia dell’Etna
Monday 8 June 2015 11:13:14
Views from the Funivia dell’Etna: Silvestri Craters
Monday 8 June 2015 11:13:24
Views from the Funivia dell’Etna: southern Silvestri Crater and the view towards Catania
Monday 8 June 2015 11:13:24 (detail)
Views from the Funivia dell’Etna: southern Silvestri Crater
Monday 8 June 2015 11:14:18
Views from the Funivia dell’Etna: still looking behind
Monday 8 June 2015 11:21:56
Views from the Funivia dell’Etna: still looking behind — the farthest car disappearing into the mist
Monday 8 June 2015 11:23:44
Arriving at the upper station of the Funivia dell’Etna
Monday 8 June 2015 11:26:46
Boarding the “jeep” (Mercedes-Benz “Unimog U2450L” 4 x 4 truck chassis with bus coachwork)
Monday 8 June 2015 11:28:28
Boarding the “jeep” (Mercedes-Benz “Unimog U2450L” 4 x 4 truck chassis with bus coachwork)
Route of the Funivia dell’Etna and of the
“jeep”
Monday 8 June 2015 11:29:28
Aboard the “jeep” (Mercedes-Benz “Unimog U2450L” 4 x 4 truck chassis with bus coachwork)
Monday 8 June 2015 11:36:24
View from the “jeep”: glacier
We left the “jeep”, found a waiting guide and had a walking tour, looking at some of Etna’s lateral craters near the Torre del Filosofo,
ca.425 metres (1,395 ft) below Etna's summit.
Monday 8 June 2015 11:49:16 Mercedes-Benz “Unimog U2450L” 4 x 4 truck chassis with bus coachwork
Monday 8 June 2015 11:50:18
“Giant’s badly dug garden” and cloud-shrouded central crater
Monday 8 June 2015 11:50:36
Meeting our Mount Etna guide
Monday 8 June 2015 11:50:36 (detail)
Meeting our Mount Etna guide
Monday 8 June 2015 11:50:58
Our Mount Etna guide
It was windy and quite cold up there. Janet and I were adequately prepared for this, though, with jackets and cagoules. Despite the altitude, the guide was no slowcoach [slowpoke] and the walking was moderately brisk, especially for me who tended to fall behind the group when taking photos and videos. Nevertheless I experienced no difficulty whatsoever. I had to breathe a little deeply and I felt a bit trembly (a sensation I remembered from Perú), but that was all. For comparison: this was at an altitude of some 2,920 metres (9,580ft); Titicaca, the highest I’ve been, was 3,812 metres (12,507ft); Ollantaytambo, where I had so, so much difficulty with breathlessness mounting the steps of the Temple Hill area, was lower at 2,792 metres (9,160 ft); and Machu Picchu, where I still had to take things easy when walking around, was a mere 2,430 metres (7,970 ft). So I can confidently state that the difficulties in Perú were wholly attributable to Dapsone-induced
anaemia.
Monday 8 June 2015 11:53:28
Still no clear view of the central summit
Monday 8 June 2015 11:54:36
Mount Etna walking tour: tramping through snow
Monday 8 June 2015 11:58:06
Mount Etna walking tour
Monday 8 June 2015 11:58:06 (detail 1)
Mount Etna walking tour
Monday 8 June 2015 11:58:06 (detail 2)
Mount Etna walking tour
Monday 8 June 2015 11:58:06 (detail 3)
Mount Etna walking tour
Monday 8 June 2015 11:59:42
Mount Etna walking tour
Monday 8 June 2015 12:09:06
Mount Etna walking tour
Monday 8 June 2015 12:10:40
Mount Etna walking tour: iron-rich deposits (red) and sulphur deposits (yellow)
Monday 8 June 2015 12:10:50
Mount Etna walking tour
Monday 8 June 2015 12:17:16
Mount Etna walking tour
Monday 8 June 2015 12:21:30
Mount Etna walking tour: looking towards the central summit (above) and the location of the “jeeps” (below)
Monday 8 June 2015 12:24:56
Approaching the “jeeps”
Monday 8 June 2015 12:24:56 (detail)
Approaching the “jeeps”
Monday 8 June 2015 12:26:28
Boarding one of the “jeeps”
Monday 8 June 2015 12:28:14
Aboard the “jeep”
We had some lunch at the café attached to the souvenir shop at the upper station of the
Funivia dell’Etna. I had some red wine and Janet had a Coke Zero. The knives, forks and plates weren’t the only plastic things there; the food was a bit “plastic” too. We were pleased to be under cover, because it came on to rain quite heavily.
Monday 8 June 2015 12:55:04
Lunch
The rain persisted and there was even thunder. There was an Irish chap seated opposite us on the ride back down, and
Janet chatted to him quite happily, seemingly oblivious to the hail beating down on the Funivia car.
Monday 8 June 2015 13:11:08
Waiting to board the Funivia dell’Etna
Monday 8 June 2015 13:12:18
Waiting to board the Funivia dell’Etna
Monday 8 June 2015 13:13:46
Aboard the Funivia dell’Etna
Monday 8 June 2015 13:17:16
Views from the Funivia dell’Etna: lichen-covered rocks
We’d been made aware of the “Etna Experience 7D” short movie show at the lower Funivia station and had decided to go to it. We had to be back at the coach outside there for 2.00pm, and it was now
ca.1.30pm. But there were delays. Initially, no-one was at the “Etna Experience 7D” counter.
Janet enquired at the Funivia “hatch”. Time was slipping by, but the movie presentation, we were told, lasted only seven minutes. Then we were issued with three tickets and had to get a refund. Anyway, with a bit of time to spare, we were shown in and got seated. There were only about half-a-dozen of us in the 40-seater auditorium. “It was wonderful,”
Janet wrote. “It was so potty I couldn’t stop laughing. I screamed several times. Tears were streaming down my face.” I was roaring with laughter. “7D”, Seven dimensions”?: there was stereoscopic vision with polarised glasses, so that’s three, I guess; the chair jerked and moved around, four; when rats were shown escaping we felt the effect of them brushing against our legs, five; bats brushing past our faces, six; and splashes of water, seven. Or perhaps the stereo or surround sound added to the number.
The “Etna Experience 7D”
We made a dash for the coach through the still-heavy rain. There was no repeat of
Janet’s illness on the way back.
Monday 8 June 2015 13:55:26
Leaving Etna on the coach
It was cloudy but bright — and hot — back at the hotel. As we entered, and proceeded, I took photos of the fairly complicated route up to the room.
Monday 8 June 2015 15:18:08
Hotel Baia Taormina
Monday 8 June 2015 15:18:18
Hotel Baia Taormina
Monday 8 June 2015 15:18:44
Hotel Baia Taormina
Monday 8 June 2015 15:19:04
Lounge or “conservatory” between the bar (left) and dining room (right)
Denise is there, with the blonde pony-tail.
Monday 8 June 2015 15:19:42
Left turn at the end of the “conservatory” into the Reception area
Monday 8 June 2015 15:19:42 (detail)
Reception, with the entrance to the first lift under the stairs at the end of the corridor
Monday 8 June 2015 15:22:42
Into the first lift
Monday 8 June 2015 15:23:38
Out of the first lift, left turn at the end of the corridor,…
Monday 8 June 2015 15:23:54
…then a right turn…
Monday 8 June 2015 15:24:04
…across the bridge to the next building, then a left turn, either onto the passage sloping slightly downwards, or onto the one sloping upwards…
Monday 8 June 2015 15:24:24
…and either around the left of the building, or entering a corridor one floor above that. We chose the latter route,…
Monday 8 June 2015 15:24:50
…proceeding to the landing at the end of the corridor,…
Monday 8 June 2015 15:25:30
…and entering the second lift there.
Monday 8 June 2015 15:26:10
Out of the lift at the top of a stair-well,…
Monday 8 June 2015 15:26:10 (detail)
…to the door at the far right corner of the stair-well,…
Monday 8 June 2015 15:26:32
…through the door at the far right corner of the stair-well,…
Monday 8 June 2015 15:26:44
…across an open space to another stair-landing…
Monday 8 June 2015 15:26:44 (detail)
…into the third lift on that stair-landing,…
Monday 8 June 2015 15:27:26
…out onto the stair-landing some floors higher up…
Monday 8 June 2015 15:27:32
…through the door on the left of the landing…
Monday 8 June 2015 15:28:20
…and into our room off the corridor on the left
Drank the rest of the “Vino alla Mandorla”, and had a 33cl bottle of beer from the minibar. Finished at last the write-up for
3
June 2015, with some help from Janet’s holiday journal, though with no direct quotes from it. Transferred 77 items (67 photos and ten videos) from the camera to the
WD Elements HDD (17:20–17:24). Then I took five more photos from the balcony—
Monday 8 June 2015 17:25:26
Views from the balcony: South-west…
Monday 8 June 2015 17:25:26 (detail)
Views from the balcony: …with Taormina just visible on the far promontory
Monday 8 June 2015 17:25:48
Views from the balcony: Ionian Sea
Monday 8 June 2015 17:26:02
Views from the balcony: Ionian Sea
Monday 8 June 2015 17:26:16
Views from the balcony: North-east…
Monday 8 June 2015 17:26:38
Views from the balcony: …with Calabria visible on the horizon
—and transferred them (17:28). Looked through the photos with Windows Photo Viewer and rotated one that needed it (17:38).…
Janet washed her hair, then sat outside on the balcony. Later we looked at the holiday photos and videos that I’d taken so far. We headed down to the ground floor
ca.7.15pm for aperativi, for dinner was scheduled for 7.30pm. I had a
Campari again, and got served also with three little bowls of nibbles. This evening there was a guy playing the piano in the “conservatory”, and after the dining room opened (a little late,
ca.7.45pm) we did him the courtesy of waiting for him to finish the number before going in. “We sat with Karen,”
Janet wrote — “she’d been a bit ill today and missed the Etna trip — and another couple.… We had a good laugh.” We left a little earlier than yesterday evening. Checked e-mail…
Janet showered, updated her journal, and went to bed some time after 10pm.…
