Mt.
Etna is the largest volcano in Europe. It is a very active volcano,
with 135 violent eruptions recorded in history, some burying towns
and flowing to the sea. The mountain is constantly changing shape
with new craters being formed. A week before our arrival, Mt. Etna
began spewing once again. From Taormina, we could see the smoke
coming out of the cone and black ash covering
the slopes where there had been snow. In 1982, the Etna area was
declared a national park and our bus took us up the winding road
to view it up close. We passed several old lava flows and went through
beautiful chestnut tree forests that are used for furniture. We
climbed to the top of one of the old craters. The top of the mountain
is 11,000 ft. There is a ski area on top and we could see the lifts
that carry skiers up to the slopes.
To view more photos from Mt. Etna, please go to Mt.
Etna Photo Gallery. To read about the next location visited,
go to Agrigento.
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