OK – I didn’t take this photo.

It’s a free image from a website I found with Mr Google’s help. We actually did not get a view of it at all because of a weird storm cell right over the top of it today.

We met our guide Antonio at 9.00am and drove towards Etna. We passed through some small villages and observed old lava flows on our way. He knew a lot about the area and kept us interested the whole way.

We stopped at the main square of the village of Zafferana (named after saffron which was grown here by the Arabs) to enjoy the view. We met a photographer who was selling his work and also taking photos using 100 year old equipment.

I paid €5 for him to take a photo of me, and I did smile in that one. He developed it on the spot in the church square.

Very clever indeed.

As we drove upwards, eventually reaching a height of 2000m above sea level, it started to grow darker and then hailed.

We were supposed to walk to the “Silvestri” craters (1892) and the latest new lava flows and craters from 2001-2003. Instead, we huddled with about 250 other people, inside a cafe near the craters. We had a coffee and waited for the hail to stop.

It didn’t.

So we headed back down the hill for our next stop – honey tasting. The hail was upwards of 4cm deep by now. It was a crazy storm. As we got further down the hill, brilliant sunshine welcomed us.

We stopped here near the place where the 1991-92 lava flow stopped. Just behind the memorial.

This honey grower has the market cornered. I understand that every tour to Mt Etna includes a stop here to taste the honey and other products.

There was absolutely no pressure to buy anything and it was all pretty delicious. Antonio pointed out this volcanic ‘bomb’ near the entry to the farm.

Antonio then drove us along one of the most scenic route’s called “Mare Neve / Sea Mountain” with a wonderful view over the Ionian Sea.

We stopped for lunch and wine tasting at the well-known winery – Gambino.

This was amazing. It was included in the price of our tour as well.

We tasted four wines and complemented it with a delicious tasting plate.

It also included these homemade sausages and vegetable couscous.

Mick loved it because we could have as much wine as we liked of the four wines we were tasting.

The owner of the vineyard and his son came and visited our table and personally welcomed us to their vineyard. That’s the original wine maker in the background.

We decided to buy two of the wines we tasted, 6 bottles in total, and have organised for them to be shipped to Edward in Cambridge for us to enjoy when we are there later in the year. They offer free shipping to anywhere in Europe. Sadly, not Australia.

Kath was very impressed by our young host who told us all about the vineyard’s history and about the wines we were tasting.

She said she would have loved to be a few years younger, as he was so handsome.

After lunch we stopped at this beautiful church in the town of Linguaglossa.

Antonio told us when he was young he could only be included in the community soccer team if he attended Mass regularly.

We met the local priest in the church, and Antonio said that now the priest had 3 churches / parishes to manage compared to one when he was young.

Antonio then drove us through Castiglione di Sicilia; a very quaint old town with very skinny streets.

He took a detour via a Byzantine church …

… which is being restored …slowly.

And, he pointed out the wild fennel (in the left hand side of the next photo) and explained how his grandfather had made him a chair out of the dried stem when he was young.

Last stop was the Alcantara Gorge – a very popular swimming spot in summer. There were a few brave people there today.

We arrived back at our hotel at 5.30pm after a huge day. An early light dinner and early to bed as we depart here tomorrow at midday.

Taormina has been beautiful. Thank you to friends of ours, Sue and Greg, who recommended it to us. We’ve loved it.