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Showing posts from 2021

Operation Ash Clearance

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Buy a house in Sicily we thought, it will be fun we thought ... This year Mount Etna has erupted over fifty times. Satellite images have revealed that she has erupted so much in 2021 that she had grown about 100 feet (30 meters) in height in just six months. Mount Etna is the highest volcano in Europe. She covers an area of approximately 1250 square km and her usual height reaches approximately 3350 metres. For repeated eruptions over many years Etna can be considered as one of the most active volcanoes in the world. From her height Mount Etna dominates Sicily, its three surrounding seas and the tip of the Italian mainland. When we first viewed our Sicilian house in November 2007 our Sicilian big brother Gianfranco told us that the view of Etna from the roof terrace was so spectacular that if she erupted we would be able to make toast and indeed we do have a jaw dropping view of our beloved volcano. Having Etna is like having a living painting and we could spend all day watching her. N...

Lockdown in London ... The Road Trip Home

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Finally after twenty two months, multiple flight cancellations and three cancelled road trips we are going home to Sicily this week by car with our dog Daisy. Woo hoo !!!!! Little did we know when we turned the key to lock our Sicilian house for winter in November 2019 that we would not know when we would be able to return and that a deadly pandemic would sweep across the world within weeks. We made the decision for the safety of ourselves, our friends and family and the world to ride the pandemic out in London and to travel to Sicily once travel restrictions were loosened.  It has been a tough twenty two months and not just because of Covid. During this time we have missed Sicily, our Sicilian house and our friends there very much.  Earlier this month I was able to pop back for a couple of days after Italy dropped the five day quarantine to British visitors. It was very surreal and the moment I stepped through our door it seemed like I was only just there yesterday.  Dur...