We made sure our Sicily trip included an excursion to the gargantuan mother volcano, Mt Etna. We popped ourselves down in Acitrezza, a small fishing village with a basaltic shore and a mythic past.
For instance, here are the boulders the Cyclops threw at Odysseus (the isole dei Ciclopi).
Now a protected park, we spent several afternoons along the waterfront simply looking at weird sea creatures.
And then we hired an environmental guide to drive us up to Etna’s south side and march us around. We started at the 2001 flow and Silvestri Craters, which were so windy it felt like sky diving! We made a chain to keep our feet on the ground, and squinted hard to keep all that black dust out of our eyes.
He took us up a trail (which felt like a secret he shared with us–we only saw a few people all day) to overlook a massive crater. He told us about different kinds of lava (his favorite is stretchy like mozzarella) and assured us it is not an active volcano. “Just smoke now.”
We definitely felt like we were standing on massive power. And also a little like we were at home: low grasses, cacti, bumble bees, delicate blooms with one spring-time show. And our happy family hiking and singing and laughing. I’d like to think we’ve been Ernesto’s most cheerful clients.
And now we’re bound for the southern tip of Sicily. One more sandy Italian beach before we ship off to rocky Malta!
Magrilless 
Awesome!
Great volcano adventure! Did you know that we will be living on a volcano for 3 months at Volcanoes National Park from September 1 to November 30, 2024.
Japan was an incredible cultural and life-different experience. We saw the high tech world of modern Tokyo, walked through ancient samurai palaces, visited Buddhist and Shinto temples, ate rice and fish everyday – including for breakfast!! It was quite delicious!
We also experienced Geisha dancing, ancient Japanese music, and calligraphy writing – in addition to other cultural activities. You’ll like that we found ice cream stands everywhere. Green tea ice cream was my favorite.
The Japanese are very clean and do not allow eating in the streets. All food must be eaten close to food stands. You will not find a public trash can anywhere. And all trash must be taken home to be disposed of. A trash bag was always provided to us by our guide.
Another thing, you need to have your own hand towel to dry your hands after going to the bathroom. Yep! Not trash cans in the bathroom either.
Hopefully, Ron will create a blog of our experiences so you can see our beautiful photos and get more detail of our daily experiences.
Oh! My favorite Japanese phrase? Itadakimasu – I humbly receive the food you serve and am grateful to the people who made this food. Japanese servers always reacted positively to me with this response.