Messina, Italy

Finally, I have a chance to put up some pictures from Messina, Italy. The last time we were here we went to the Greek Theatre at Taormina. While we had seen Mt. Etna in the distance, this time we decided to take the Jewelry Factory and Mt Etna tour.

As we traveled out of town, I had a chance to take a picture of a three wheel motorcycle that is very prominent in Europe.

As we head to Mt Etna, we travel through several small villages. As you can see from the pictures, there are no Interstates up the slopes of Mt. Etna. Sometimes, the buses barely made it through the narrow streets.

At one small town, they had a festival on the main street and we had to wind our way around town on back streets before we were able to continue up the slop of Mt. Etna.

Our first site of Mt. Etna occurred early behind this tree.

As we drive up the slopes of Mt. Etna, the Southern vent is spewing out smoke.

If you look at the middle of the next picture, you can see an area devoid of trees and shrub. This is where the lava flowed in the 2002 eruption and finally stopped half-way down the slope.

As we get higher, the road winds back and forth on itself as it goes through lava fields.

At one stop, I was able to take a picture of these beautiful flowers growing in the middle of the lava field.

Our guide asks us if any of us knew when Mt Etna last erupted. We had heard that it was during the Spring. You can imagine our surprise when we were told it had just erupted yesterday (10/26/13). She had a picture to show us of the actual eruption.

We got to our destination, the Silvestri Crater at 6,200 feet above sea level.

It was just a little walk to the rim of the crater.

Even Rexie made it to the rim.

On the other side of the walk to the rim appeared to be another crater. Mt. Etna is the world's most active volcano.

This is very common stop for tourists.

Across the road was more lava fields and a cable car that takes tourists even higher to the top.

There is a small store/restaurant where we spent a few minutes having something to drink and eat. You know that restroom stops are critical for a bus load of people.

Going back to the bus, I saw something in the wall across the street.

It was a little shrine. This type of shrine can be seen throughout Europe.

On the way down the slope, our guide showed us several pictures from the 2001-2002 eruptions.

This one showed snow at the top of the volcano.

As we reached the jewelry factory, we were told that this palace was built originally as a jewelry factory and was never a residence, even though the houses around this factory were obviously residential.

As we went inside, the place was beautiful.

We were met by the owner and manager as they explained a brief history of the factory.

They sell jewelry throughout the world to various independent jewelers. Here is some samples of what they make.

We went into the basement and actually saw where they make the jewelry. What a mess. I thought my desk was messy.

This display showed pearls from beginning to end.

We had a great day and enjoyed it thoroughly.

At the end of the day, I still had work to do. Rexie took this picture of me grading some papers. It is obvious the assignment was not going well. Another reason Messina took so long to get on the blog.

I must be off!