Sicily - Mt Etna spewing bits of Lava

We were woken by what sounded like hailstones on the roof of the motorhome. It was just before 01:00 ECT (local time Sicily) and we took no notice of it. The clatter on the roof was followed by a low rumbling sound which I took to be distant thunder. It was only when some minutes later I heard animated voices talking outside that I decided to get out of bed and investigate.

Outside I found various other fellow motorhomers gathering around looking towards Mount Etna, not that you could see anything of it in the dark and obscured by heavy cloud. However, you still look as if something would be seen soon! What did bring the message home was that all around you bits of rock and solidified lava was falling, clattering on the roofs of the parked motorhomes. Quite an eerie feeling in the dead of night under a dark menacing sky!

Morning revealed a patchy carpet of bits of rock and solidified lava strewn all over as far as the eye could see. One has to be philosophical and put it down to another of life's experiences, another box ticked and ponder on the marvels and forces of Nature at work.

Oh yes, we soon learnt to NOT even attempt entering the 'van with shoes because all of the tiny bits cling to the soles and soon the inside carpet would feel like you're walking bare foot on a sandy beach!

Crunchy under foot when walked over

The size varied from salt crystals to sugar cubes

Now who would have thought that such beauty can emit such an unwelcome contents from deep within its unknown depths ....

Taken two days before on a glorious sunny day