About this my trip i had heard very various opinions. Some said i am crazy to spend these money because of these trips, some said it is a wonderful idea. But i didn't care too much about it, I just really wanted to see Mt. Etna. :)
The ship had to leave at 7, and it was said, you had to check in at least 1 hour before departure. When we investigated the bus timetable, it was funny to know, that all of them are a bit to late. When i have heard the price of taxi, the first my reaction was laughing. So it was obvious what i did - a nice 50 minutes walk at 5 in the morning.:) But it was really nice - not too hot yet, not too crowded either. And not very far.:)
And at last i was in a ship. And at last ;) i saw a really handsome and tall maltese, who was checking the tickets at the entrance. yes, bad i was too short in Malta. Just joking a bit, of course.;) The trip by ship took 90 minutes. I saw, that more than a half of all people are tourists, so i was wondering, how they were going to divide us to the boats, because they said nothing before. But it was very easy: by nationalities. I was in a coach 1 (the only man- guide, other two were women), and surprisingly, not with other eastern Europeans, they were in a bus 2. Some of you remember my blouse with a sign Tokyo. I bought it in Sweden, and like it very much. So here, almost everyone kept his duty to joke, if i am from Tokyo.:) Of course i am. :P The man at the passport control asked it. The guide joked the same too. But it was a very funny conversation. he asked, if i am from Tokyo. After joking that of course, i said, that i am from Lithuania, and that moment the driver, who was standing with other drivers at the second bus, ran to say to me hello and added: I am from Sicily, from mafia, so if you need anything... ;) Yes, they like to joke about it.:)
funnily, it was the hotest day in June in Sicily. Just imagine- +45C. At 40 i still feel very good, but 45 is a bit too much to me, especially, when it was humid.
At first we stopped for breakfast in Pozzolo (the cappuccino was so good... :) ) and later, about 1.5 hours went by bus to Taormina. The guide was telling a lot about Sicily, what we can see around, like Almond trees on the left, olive trees there, orange trees there. I am from the North, so of course, I am excited about it. When he was telling - lemon trees on the left, i just joked to the old man sitting next to me:"May be i should move here already"? you know, I like lemons so much!:) And the guide have heard it somehow, and in his fast speech he added one more sentence looking to me: "A wonderful idea: a driver has a free room, me too, and i live closer to the lemosn". :) All bus was laughing, of course.:)
Taormina? I wonderful town high in the mountains. We had two hours there, so with one Romanian woman from the other bus we decided to go to the remains of greek theatre (and there were so many wonderful views to the see and mountains from there, i couldn't stop taking photos.:) ), and later had a walk. A cosy place with a small streets, souvenir shops and so on.:)
Another almost two hours in a bus, and we reached Mt. Etna. If someone doesn't know, this is a very active Vulcano. http://www.volcanolive.com/etna.html
You can still see a smoke from one of the craters. We reached the height of 2000 m by bus, and the guide was telling all the time: the lava from 1998 eruption, the lave from 2002 eruption and so on. When we stoped at a nice place, where the map of Sicily from lava was made, everyone took a small peace of lava. Just for memory. And if i wouldn't know it, i couldn't get that the black "stone" in my hand is lava. On tv we are used to see it during the eruption, when it is red.
But the amount of lava around makes an impression. We had two hours there (and at last it was windy and not so hot anymore), so with Camelia, that woman from Romania, we had a small walk on one little old crater. To see it's form, to look around, it was something new and really interesting. because the only time i saw a vulcano, Aso in Japan, it was so different.

So i enjoyed. A lot.:) Even if at 11 p.m. when i was back i was so tired... Luckily, i didn't have to walk this time.:)

To be continued...