2011 April - Sicily

Looking for Etna Peak – Trip to Sicily part1

With our friends we found a really cheap flight from Malta to Sicily and what was important the flight from Malta was on Friday at 10.20 pm and the one from Trapani (Birgi) was on Sunday at 21.15 pm so we had all weekend for our Sicily tour. 

We decided to rent a car and went to Etna – far, far away from Trapani. The first problem was to rent a car because our arrival to Trapani was at 11.20 pm in Trapani and all offices would be close at this time so we tried to call and get some information but without Italian language it was like the mission impossible. Finally, we found one car agency opened till midnight and we decided to rent a car there. 

When we landed in Trapani it was 11.00 pm because Ryanair is always before scheduled time. I know why – they always inform about routes with some extra time added and when they can they start earlier than scheduled time. Of course, in Trapani all rentals offices were opened and when I ask they told me that they always wait for customers when they order car.

What is also important is that you need to have with you a safety reflective vest to go by car on motorway, one per passenger. If you haven’t got it they will charge you 3 Euro per item for renting. So it is cheaper to take it with you.

We took our Fiat Panda – for four people with hand luggage it was a good idea.

We started our journey to Catania by local roads as we decided. With GPS it’s easier. You choose a way without motorways and it led you via local’s roads, only sometimes you need to check it with a map. 

Our trip was through Marsala, Mazara, Campobello, and Sciacca to Agrigento all the time road no 115. Before Agrigento were construction works on the road and we decided to go via Favra where we were lost for a 20 minutes in an amazing and charming city. And we got to Caltanissetta and to Enna. From Enna all the way to Catania we followed a small road 192 near the motorway.

Near the city of Catania we found we found a small dirt road and we decided to go sleeping there, some of us slept in the tent and some in the car. We went sleeping at 5.00 am. and woke up at 7.10 am.

This day weather was really horrible, there where clouds everywhere it’s raining and was really bad. First we found a big shopping centre where girls found lovely shoes and we found a big shop with food, we spent there more than an hour. Next with our GPS we got to the city centre near the information office but we couldn’t find it. 

We found a parking but the man told us that it cost 5 Euro for half a day and it’s not important for how long we stayed for 6 hours we needed to pay 5 Euro and we needed to leave our keys in the car! For us it was too strange, we had there all our equipment so we decided to find street parking. One and half hour cost 2,40 Euro and it was enough for us. 

Near our was a park and few meters further  there was a market where people sell everything starting from clothes, shoes, some small gifts and sea food, fruits, meat and probably you could buy there almost everything. 

The place was so laud, everybody tried to outshout each other but it was good experience for me, and another shoes for women. The weather was a little bit better but still cloudy and we decided to go to the Etna parking near the Rifugio Sapienza.

The road was really horrible. As a driver I couldn’t see anything further than 5 meters and the road was like a serpentine. When we got to the parking zone there weren’t any views. 

There were some shops and we asked about the tourist information. In the bar there was a guy who served as information about possible routes or activities. 

Of course, he told us that if we wanted to go to the top, it is necessary to have a guide with you but if you wanted to hike around the volcano peak you could do it on your own but of course not that today because of the weather.

Then I saw the sun somewhere in the sky, it tried to send us sunshine’s to us, so I decided to wait a moment and then wind came – for 5 minutes we had views and saw small volcanic tops not so high and not so far and with the people on the top. The decision was easy to make. Firstly, we climbed up a small one called ‘Crateri Silvestri’. 

We had some walk around and inside and made many, many pictures. The second one was ‘Crateri del 2001’ and the way was really hard and steep but after 20 minutes we were on the top and made some funny photos there. 

The Etna is still an active volcano and is 3233 m high. Probably next time we will try to climb up there. 

The weather had still changed and once we had good views but only for 4 minutes – the wind brought us another cloud. The way down was ascent than descent – we chosen another road and sometimes there weren’t marked lines.