blogs about mount etna

Bill versus the volcano (X)

Bill-on-the-Hill — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 18:08:54 -0700

The last full day of our Volcano Discovery outing, and we've saved the best for last. This was the day for descending the Valle del Bove, a massive collapse structure on the side of Mount Etna. I've been in a lot of mountain valleys in my life, but it's fair to say I'd never been in one quite like this before, and with a fantastic going-away banquet afterward in Nicolosi town to boot.

Bill versus the volcano (IX)

Bill-on-the-Hill — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 08:22:27 -0700

The big thing about this day was that it stank. Well, actually, that was the whole idea, because our destination was the active crater of Mount Etna, one of the world's most active volcanoes and its second largest source of malodorous sulfur dioxide and other evil gases. Why, you say, would anyone want to go to such a place? Read on ...

Bill versus the volcano (VIII)

Bill-on-the-Hill — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 18:42:47 -0700

This was a comparatively quiet day, most of it spent getting from point to point in preparation for the real fun stuff that would follow over the next two days. It did, however, involve a stop at a real Acme of Amphorae, a Paragon of Pottery, an Excelsior of Earthenware, an Ultra of Urns. This foray into archaeology wasn't really what we had made this trip for, but even complete whackos like us need to do some conventional tourism some of the time.