I got to visit my first volcano on our trip to Sicily in September. Mount Etna is the tallest and most active volcano in Europe, and we could see it from our hotel balcony in Taormina.  It’s on everyone’s list of things to see in Sicily, so we couldn’t miss it. After a long bus ride with so many switchbacks that I lost count (but not my breakfast), we reached the Rifugio Sapienza (Refuge of Wisdom), which is 6,348 feet above sea level. The Rifugio is filled with places to eat and shop and is the starting point for the gondola ride further up Etna.

It was time to do a gut check and decide if we wanted to take the 15-minute gondola ride which would sweep us up another 2,000 feet closer to the mouth of the volcano, aka the crater, which is still active, with eruptions this past June and as recently as October 23, or as I like to call it—last week! Yowsa!

  Luckily, on the day we were there in September, Etna was smoldering but not sending lava in our direction.  Thus, we did take the gondola ride up the barren landscape and my friends and I posed for photos with smoke coming out of our heads. We did not, however, climb aboard the all-terrain vehicles that bring you up another 1,300 feet to an altitude of 9,500 feet, which is still at the top.  Etna is 11,165 feet.  At 8,300 feet, we felt close enough to the site that Romans called the forge of Vulcan. No sense pushing our luck.

Of course, after you descend, there’s the classic exit through the gift shop, where you can purchase many items made of volcanic rock. From there, we drove back and forth down the mountain whose switchbacks are so narrow that our bus often had to wait for vehicles around the bend.  Hair-raising.

  Our second destination of the day was Tenuta San Michele, home of the Murgo winery where we enjoyed a delightful five-course lunch and wine tasting under the pergola.  The dishes just kept coming out and the vino was flowing. By the end of the meal, we were so full that we couldn’t think about dinner that night. (And who says that gelato doesn’t count as a healthy dinner?)

  What we could think about, however, was having a nap on the ride back to Taormina, followed by a trip down to the pool bar for a Hugo, the drink that seems to be taking over the Aperol Spritz as the new hot cocktail for the jet set. Actually, the Hugo got big about two years ago, but hey, I’m always a little late to the party. The Hugo is a combination of elderflower liqueur, prosecco, club soda, mint and lime.  It is delightfully light and refreshing and we all became big fans. It was especially nice when the bar man walked out to the garden and picked some fresh mint for my beverage.  Ahh, Sicily!