One of the highlights of the trip was our visit to Mt. Etna. It is the tallest active volcano in Europe at 3,329 meters or 10,922 feet. It is one of the most active volcanoes in the world. This was the view of Mt Etna from the balcony of our hotel.
On Monday 05/09, we were on the mountain at the highest point that you can take a bus. It is above the tree line and it was great fun walking around on the pumice. I have always been fascinated with volcanoes. Here is one of the pictures from on the mountain.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13381243
We all thought we were lucky to have an opportunity to see this spectacular site. The payment was that they ended up closing the airport for 24 hours. There was considerable ash in the street and that began our adventure.
Since there is only one flight per day to Rome from that airport - the group decided to rent a bus to take us to Palermo and catch one of their flights. That got us to Rome in the early evening. Our attempt to get to the hotel that we had rented a block of rooms did not work... some spent the night sleeping on the floor of the airport. Others of us spent a ridiculous amount for a night at the Rome Hilton at the airport. We were able to get on the flight from Rome the next day and flew stand-by from JFK to Detroit. Even thought it was a painful way home - we heard that those that stayed in Catania were not booked on flights until Sunday.
Definitely a memorable end to a good vacation!
