Sept 18 (Etna on the 15th)

Mi dispiace che non ho scritto. (I supposed to be learning past tense but I find it EXTREMELY difficult! I just can't seem to remember.)

It's been a few days since I've written and I've mostly been walking around, trying to meet locals, and practice my morning lessons.

The big event since I last wrote was that on the 15th, I visited Etna. What an amazing time. There was 1 guide (Sebstiano), 1 assistant (Luca), myself, and 3 other tourists.  All but one of us  thought that we were going to be taken up Etna, get a presentation, and so some wandering around. Turns out that our Italian wasn't as precise as we though. Apparently, we signed up for a 7 hour HIKE up Etna. We were so not dressed for it but we did it anyway and it was so worth it!

The guides refer to Mt Etna as "Her Majesty crowned with/wreathed in clouds. Interesting.

As I said, the internet here is very poor so I'll attempt to post some photos and then log off for the day.  The lessons are still going well but very slowly. I guess that happens when you get older. ;-) Today was 3 hours where I wasn't allowed to speak ANY English. Talk about difficult (and very amusing for my professoressa!).

Here is a cave entrance on the side of Etna (we did NOT go down the tiny hole!:

My view at the start of the hike:

 
Descending to the lava floor:

Eating lunch (arancini) on the lava floor:

Apples from Etna:

And finally, the lava tube entrance (we explored several hundred meters of it):

Well, that's it for now. Ci vediamo a tutti!

---Vincenzo