Mt Etna

Last full day in Catania today and we took a trip up Mt Etna.  We've went up to 2500 metres, by bus as it was too windy today for the cable car. That was an experience itself.  Exiting the bus we were instantly hit by a very cold wind - almost knocked Robin over!  We lasted about five minutes, took some photos and scuttled back to queue for the return down to the tourist centre.  

Our guide on this trip was pretty good and gave us plenty of background on the volcano. I have obviously not read enough about Etna - it is not an explosive volcano but one that just slowly spews out a mass of molten rock which sets quite quickly.  Also it has over the years made many craters, many of which are now just hills.  

On the way up we stopped at one house that was swallowed by the last eruption, around 2001.  The road we were on had to be rebuilt after that.