Living with Etna


When our adopted Sicilian big brother called to say that he had found us the perfect Sicilian home we flew out to Sicily straight away.

Mungibeddu (Beautiful Mountain)
He met us at the airport and we headed straight there to view it, after seeing the interior we headed up to the roof terrace. It was dark by the time we had arrived so there was not much to see apart from a inky Sicilian night sky full of stars, however our Sicilian big brother assured us that there was views of the sparkling Ionian Sea, Castelmola, Taormina and of course Mount Etna. He told us the view of Etna was so spectacular that when she erupts we would be able to make toast.

We loved what we saw so we decided to return the next morning to view everything in daylight, as we stepped out on the roof terrace there she was .... Mount Etna in her full glory smoking away. It was early December so Etna was covered in snow. That afternoon we went to meet the owner of the house and signed the papers to purchase our Sicilian home.

Mount Etna is one of the world's largest and most active volcano's and dominates the Sicilian landscape. She has an overwhelming presence. The Sicilian's call her Mungibeddu or Mongibello in Italian, which means beautiful mountain.

Living with Etna is like having a live larder. We eat vegetables, prickly-pear cactus, a sea of citrus fruits, peaches, cherries, apples, plums, pears and chestnuts, almonds, hazelnuts and pistachios all grown on the fertile volcanic earth. We drink robust wines from the terraces of the many vineyards nestled on the volcano's slope. Plus honey from the pretty town of Zafferana Etnea.

Etna Produce

When we have guest's to stay I always tell them about our view and it is particularly funny how if they have arrived at night the next morning they take their coffee out to our balcony, sit there for a while looking at the sea then you hear the exclamations as they turn and see Etna. I always remember one guest we had was admiring the banana tree in front of our home for ages, I was sitting and talking in my kitchen with my Sicilian big brother who had just arrived bringing us a breakfast of fresh Sicilian pastries when all the sudden I heard a cry of "Holy F***" I looked at my Sicilian brother and said "I think he has just seen Etna".

This year and last year Etna has been extremely active, we have eaten many a dinner on our terrace whilst watching a natural firework display, orange and red flares in the night sky accompanied by big booms and we have been amazed by the river of lava trickling down the slopes.

Hephaestus
How can I describe the sound, well it is something like a loud grumbling hungry stomach and distant thunder. In Greek Mythology, the forges of the Greek god of blacksmiths Hephaestus were said to be located underneath Etna, so maybe we have him to blame for the noise. Etna was also supposedly the home of the cyclop Polyphemus, we have a wonderful terracotta face of Polyphemus on the roof terrace we have positioned him on a wall facing homewards towards Etna.

One Saturday morning last December whilst back in London I started getting messages from my friends in Giardini Naxos "Etna is erupting it is raining black rocks !!!! " This 'rain' came down for twenty minutes turning our town and beach black and our roof terrace was apparently doing a very good impression of an ash tray. I booked some flights and headed home.

our ash tray

We are very lucky to have such a wonderful adopted big brother to look after us in Sicily, by the time I arrived he and his young son had started to sweep our terrace creating lovely big piles of ash resembling mini volcano's. The three of us together with my best friend filled 54 black bags which I lovingly left for my husband to deal with on his next trip. The lava stones are not particularly heavy but are sharp like glass, which leads me onto another Etna story.

This year we were desperate after many recommendation's to visit Gambino Vini located high on the slopes of Etna. Our friends husband is a coach driver and takes tourists up to the vineyard and is known as being the first coach driver to get up the winding Etna roads. So if he could do it so could we, so one June day we phoned ahead to make sure we could bring our dog Daisy, entered the co-ordinations into our Sat Nav and with a friend staying with us set off. Then the fun began.

Obviously we requested the quickest route on the Sat Nav what it did not tell us was that this involved unpaved roads. As we ascended up Etna the roads became more smaller and remote and I started to notice that the roads had not been cleared from the December eruption. As I mentioned the lava stones are like glass so the car started to slide. Then we reach a steep upwards hill
with old stone walls each side which our car could just fit between, "this cannot be right" I cried "how could Mario get a coach up here, we must be going the wrong way!!!!" Then the car got stuck on the hill in the lava rocks. We could not go up and we were slowly started to slip backwards on the glass like lava. "Oh my god, we are going to die" ..... to fast forward after a lot of sweating and cursing my extremely skilled husband with our friend directing and Daisy watching through the rear window we slowly reversed backwards with the stones sliding underneath us. After our traumatic experience we decided to abort our trip and head back home to recover.

Ciao Etna
I adore Etna, there is something relaxing and therapeutic about laying on a sunbed watching until the sun sets behind her. It is my favourite time of day seeing the sun disappear with a glass of Sicilian wine in my hand listening to Chill Out anthems.

Hanging out washing on the line is a whole different experience with a volcano watching you.

Every morning I wake up and go out onto the balcony to say "Ciao Etna" and see what kind of mood she is in and yes I have seen strange lights hovering above her at night time and I am not the only one to have see them. Any suggestions and theories of what they might be are welcome.

In case you are wondering, we did finally make it to Gambino Vini on another day taking the correct route.

New post coming soon: Gambino Vini .....

Gambino Tifeo Etna Rosso

Polyphemus the Cyclop

Sunset on Etna

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