July 3 - Mt. Etna

We needed two busses to pick up the delegates and their home stay partners.

We drove an hour or so to Mt. Etna. By the time we reached the bus drop off we were already 6,000 ft. up from sea level. The delegates climbed another 1,000 ft.

It was a perfect day!  The sky was blue and clear and there was just a slight breeze. The higher we got,  the more breeze we felt.

The landscape differences are fascinating. We could see lush,  green hills contrasted by the stark,  coarse remnants of the 2002 eruption. I didn't realize it on the way in,  but we saw hundreds of acres of lava and bare trees.

On the way up,  we saw the roof from the hotel that was lost in the last eruption. I found it interesting,  and hopeful, to see flowers and plants bursting through the rubble of the lava.

Unlike Vesuvius, Etna has four craters. It is still an active volcano. We could see gas, which looked like a cloud, at thetop of the highest peak. We could also see snow.

I was surprised to learn that the area is used for skiing,  and we could see the lift.

For some reason, when we got back to the hotel,  all I wanted was a Sprite with ice.  There's a nice café next to the hotel,  so Tammy and I headed there. Not only did we get something to drink,  we indulged in a cannoli, too!  It was heavenly.

Spent the evening organizing my suitcase and getting ready to leave in the morning.  Hard to believe that this time next week we'll be on our way home!