Ten minutes on a sleeping volcano

I should immediately note that I categorically did not want to spend time on visiting Etna. Do not get me wrong, I love the mountains, but against the background of the rest of the sights of Sicily, a mountain with an extinct volcano seemed boring to me.

But my beautiful companion firmly insisted on visiting the peak hiding in the clouds.

I read that the smoke above Etna comes in three colors, and every Sicilian has known this since childhood. Each inhabitant of the settlements surrounding Etna in the morning involuntarily assesses the situation, he looks at the volcano. The Sicilian needs only one glance to analyze the state of a sleeping volcano. If white smoke rises above the mountain, as usual, then everything is in order in Sicily, which means that you can safely go about your business and not worry about anything. If the smoke is red, then most likely an eruption is possible in the coming days, and so you need to be ready. Blue smoke means that you need to immediately run away from the island, and do not forget to take your passport, money and the most valuable things.

The road from Catania is very bizarre. The car constantly goes uphill. There are quite a lot of traffic jams along the way. At this moment, I regretted that I did not take the model with an automatic transmission.

As you approach Etna, the landscape changes. At the bottom of the mountain there are magnificent pine groves.

I really liked the groves with colorful foliage. They are located on islands of fertile soil that has been preserved among petrified lava.

But my beautiful companion firmly insisted on visiting the peak hiding in the clouds.

Four roads lead to the top of Etna. We chose the east path, through the village Zafferana Etnea.

The road is narrow with numerous bends. However, for Europe and Italy there is nothing unusual. Movement requires constant concentration.

Our way led us to the site Rifugio Sapienza.

In fact, this is the base point where buses from Catania come, as well as most independent tourists by car. The base is located at an altitude of 1900 meters. There is a large parking lot, souvenir shops, cafes and cash desks. Here you can buy a ticket for the cable car. Already at this height there is something to see - not far from the parking lot there is one of the side craters.

This time we positioned ourselves as budget tourists. Therefore, we were not ready to give 63 euros for a cable car ticket. We just walked around a bit. The surrounding landscape resembles a different planet. Around the field of petrified lava. Honestly, all this looks like heaps of asphalt ...

It's amazing how fast the weather changes upstairs.

The clouds came running swiftly. It instantly became dark and cold.

The top has a standard alpine look, doesn't it? Snow, lift and slopes.

We stopped to explore one of the local attractions. This is a house in the midst of frozen lava.

A couple of tips. I recommend a walk on the islands of vegetation in the form of round groves. Walking on them can be very interesting and peaceful. Loving couples can find this place quite romantic and secluded.

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