Sicily 1998

A photo of Mt. Etna erupting on the front page of the paper was the cue for this trip. I saw the photo in the morning, and by the afternoon I’d booked my flight to Catania, at the foot of the mountain and persuaded two friends to come with me. We were young and naive and it’s amazing we even got to the airport given the extreme lack of planning, but during our five day trip we managed to go on a couple of long hikes, reach an elevation of 2500m up the mountain, and see some spectacular lava fountains.

Journey to Zafferana

Our flight was at 7am. Having slept at Heathrow to make our early check-in we were not exactly fizzing with energy on our first day. After a great flight over the alps, we walked out of tiny Catania [...read on...]

Long walk in filthy weather

From Zafferana the road winds up through vinyards and past houses towards the Rifugio Sapienza. We set out for a good long walk along the road, refusing to be deterred by the thick clouds which [...read on...]

Cable car to Montagnola

Early on the third day we took a taxi to the Rifugio Sapienza. It was a great ride, up beyond the snowline, with our taxi driver playing Enya tapes at high volume. On the way we saw steam billowing [...read on...]

Another long walk

On our final day we went for another lengthy hike, and we got some great views along the way. We were heading for a scenic viewpoint but sadly by the time we got there, the clouds had as [...read on...]