To Etna

Last Friday we finally made it to Etna! However, the weather didn't cooperate at all. We hiked up the mountain only to see a huge wall of fog! It was difficult to see even the person a few feet ahead.

A HUGE Lava bomb (person sized).

This made it too dangerous to hike around the eruptive cones as we planned, but we did make it to the top of one of them - and saw more fog.

Lower down the mountain, the fog cleared enough for us to walk up a large lava flow (from the 1970s) and see a house that had been surrounded by lava. Then it started to pour and we left Etna to visit a vineyard for a wonderful, but rather soggy, wine tasting.

Saturday I gave English tours for visitors to the Paolo Orsi Regional Archaeological Museum as part of the Settimana della Cultura (Culture week). I had a blast showing off the highlights of the museum and sharing my interest in Prehistoric and Classical Sicily with others. 

Atop a crater.

On Sunday, a few friends and I went to the beach in Fontane Bianche and tried to enjoy the sun (which stubbornly refused to come out from behind the clouds). Nevertheless, I built extensive beach fortifications and practiced beach baseball with seaweed balls, and played in the water.

This weekend, my friend Jo and I are off to Naples to see Herculaneum and Pompeii!
Happy Easter, everyone!