The Volcano Climb

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend! I've heard the South got some snow, and I must say I'm quite glad I missed it. The weather here has been amazing, and I spent my Saturday climbing a volcano! But before I get to that, let me direct you to another Web site where I will be posting pictures.

Go to www.dropshots.com/sebrock. When you get to this Web site, click on Isola Vulcano under "Albums" to view pictures from the volcano I climbed this weekend. I would not view the pictures "By date" as they upload in a random order. I will continue to post other pictures as I get a chance, but they don't upload incredibly fast, and I must rely on Clay's computer to upload them. I will work more on that this week, but hopefully these can at least give you some idea of what the volcano was like. OK, now for my weekend:

Last Thursday, I heard of a few other students who were headed to isole eolie - the islands north of Sicilia (for a map, which may be needed after reading this entry, visit http://www.eoliearcipelago.it/cartaisoleeolie.gif). So, the trip sounded really exciting as it involved seeing active volcanoes. I should pause here and note that Taormina is right by Mt. Etna, which is an active volcano. In fact, from where I sit now, I can see the snow-capped Etna glistening in the sunshine. We will definitely be taking a trip there at some point, and I will be getting some pictures of that at some point as well. Anyways, after hearing rumors of this adventure, I was trying to plot ways to get myself invited along. Thankfully, the other students are so nice, that they invited Clay and I to go.

Saturday morning at 6:30 a.m. we left Taormina in a rental car. Our group consisted of myself and Clay, Alisia (my housemate who was born a Swiss, and now lives in Uraguay), Christoff (who is swiss), and Randall (and Australian who is also Clay's housemate). Christoff was driving as he is used to these insane roads apparently. In the car, we drove up to Milazzo. It was a gorgeous drive and we were fortunate enough to watch the sun rise over various small Sicilian towns. Once in Milazzo, we took a ferry to Isola Vulcano. Essentially the entire island is a volcano, but there are some houses, shops and restaurants.

We stopped at a grocery store and purchased food for sandwiches, and then we headed up the volcano. It took about two hours to get to the top. The men walked much quicker, but Alisia and I took our time, stopped for breaks, and snapped lots of photos (I took 250 photos on Isola Vulcano alone). Saturday was the first time in my life I've ever regretted not listening in Geology. The rock formations were incredible, and I actually really enjoyed looking at the crevices lava flows have made over the years.

Near the top, there is a helicopter landing pad, and from there, you can see down into the crater, which was smoking while we were there. It looked incredible, and the sulfur smell was somehow cool as well. I did take a picture right in front of the smoke, and I think I probably took a few years off of my life breathing in the sulfur for that quick minute.

From the helicopter landing pad, we walked another 30 minutes to the very top, and then we headed back down and had lunch on the pad. As we ate, Randall made the comment about how odd the entire situation was. Here we were, five foreigners who didn't know each other last week, and we were having lunch on top of a volcano. It was a pretty awesome experience to say the least.

We trekked back down the volcano, which was much easier than going up. We only had to make sure we didn't slip and fall down the entire mountain. We reached the port and relaxed on the beach until the ferry came. The sand on the beach is black, from all the ash I suppose, but it still feels like sand. We then took the ferry from Isola Vulcano to Stromboli.

Stromboli is a much larger volcano, and I believe more active. The last eruption was February of last year. There are villages on two sides of the volcano. While on the ferry, Christoff found us a place to stay at this very nice couple's house. They had two rooms, and enough beds for all of us. It was bizarre though how easy it seemed to find a place to stay. As we got off the ferry, Christoff just turned to us and said he had found a place to stay (thankfully he is fluent in Italian - and about a million other languages). We spoke with the family for awhile while Christoff set off to find a guide to take us up Stromboli. He wanted to see at night, but we couldn't go up Saturday night.

We did walk about an hour up to get to a viewing point where we could supposedly see some activity. It took us about an hour, in the dark, to get to this point. Along the way, we met up with three American navy men, who are based outside of Catania. So the eight of us walked up to this point, but it was a cloudy night, so we didn't see anything. We did, however, hear a rumble. It sounded like thunder, but you could tell it came from the volcano. Then the eight of us shared a bottle of wine the family had given us to take up.

When we got back down to the town, we ate at the only restaurant open, and we had a marvelous time! On Sunday, Randall, Clay and I walked around Stromboli for awhile, and had again made lunch from the supermarket. It was interesting to talk with the family with whom we stayed. We asked them what they do when the volcano erupts, and Anna (the woman), said they don't worry about it. Apparently when it erupts, the sea gets so rough, that the ferries can't come, so everyone just sits around and waits it out apparently. When we walked around the town, we saw signs that pointed people into the direction to a "waiting area" in the event of a volcano. I suppose they all chill in their homes, or run to this piazza and hope the lava flows around them. But Anna was really not concerned, and they've lived through several eruptions, so I suppose it works. But I could never live on an active volcano - I would be too nervous.

Christoff was very set on hiking up Stromboli at night, so he and Alisia decided to stay another day. So Randall, Clay and I left Stromboli at 3:45 p.m. on a Ferry. I say this is when the real adventure begins! The ferry took two hours to get to Milazzo (we had to stop at every island along the way). So we got to Milazzo a little before 6 p.m. We then took the bus from Milazzo to Messina, but the bus didn't leave until 6:45, and it stopped at several stops on the way out of town. By the time we got to Messina, it was about 8:30 p.m., and there were no more buses to Taormina (The Sunday bus schedule is a bit different from the week). So, we took the last train to Taormina, but it really only goes to Noxos, which is the town below us. We arrived in Noxos at 9:45 p.m., and of course, there were no more buses up to Taormina, so we walked. Up steps. For 30 minutes. At night. After an exhausting weekend. Thankfully, there was a full moon, and the thought of my warm bed and a warm shower at the Ferrari's house kept me going.

Needless to say, after this weekend, I slept well last night. To see pictures from the trip, visit the Web site above. I know this has been a long blog, so I will end it now! Ciao Ciao!