Sitting next to my tent, which is perched on a hillside facing North, I study the Southern face of of Mt. Etna as the last scraps of my dinner disappear down my gullet. On my right, night approaches, ending the day; and, on my left, the sun ignites the Western sky in a fiery display. All day now, I've sat here and contemplated the smoke billowing from Etna's peak.
But I get ahead of myself. After leaving Amsterdam last Thursday, I took a turbulent twenty nine hour train ride South, aiming for Cinque Terre in the Italian Riviera, "Where Dreams Come True." As my 29 hour trek drew to a close and I boarded the last train, I met a group from LA and fell into fast company with them and even faster company with their bottle of Bacardi and Coke (if any of you are raising your eyebrows see above: length of time I spent on trains). Once in our destination of choice, we freshened up and bit the town. Yes, bit, I'd gotten my third wind and we were feeling somewhat lively. While roaming the streets, we met up with the two cousins (twice removed, they can marry in Vermont if they want) with whom I was sharing a room, or bungalow. Our party was thus formed, and after a quick bite to eat and "finding" a bottle of wine worth marrying (neither of these are in reference to me, stop what you're thinking, because it can't be good), we went out and found a bar. And here I had my first taste of traveling in the Tourist Season as the bar and the Cliffside around it was literally swarming with Americans. As the Mediterranean was literally a stone's throw from the bar, late night skinny dipping seemed natural to the evening, though Rebecca (one cousin) and I had to persuade Lindsay (the other one) that we should wait till past two. Now, I like skinny dipping as much as the next man; but, when it involves evading Night fishermen’s rather large fishing hooks, well, that's a bit too extreme for me, no matter how much I've had to drink.
The next few days were spent at the beach and hiking from village to village, an occasionally avoiding the Naked Italian Man on the trail, stroking himself while trying to have sex with me. Seriously though, that run in was quite strange, and not a little disconcerting. This guy in a Speedo and sandals followed me from the nude beach where I'd been having lunch and sunning my bum. The trail I was on led back to the main trail connecting to of the seaside villages and was quite steep, narrow and a tough climb. Given his attire, the guy didn't strike me as a day hiker, and after he'd trailed me for 5 minutes I got kinda edgy. I stopped and let him walk past me. He finally did and disappeared up the trail, going round a bend. I wasn't even sure I was on the right path, so I waited a few minutes and then started up it. Well, I came round the bend and the dude was waiting there, Speedo off, and he was getting himself stiff, presumably in anticipation of some sort of encounter with me. Right path or wrong, I decided it was time to find another trail and retraced my steps downwards and eventually found the right trail, the one I had two hours previously descended. I ascended that trail at a quick pace headed back to the main patch and out of that place.
The rest of Cinque Terre was quite fun and I believe some California Dreamers had their Dreams come True. But eventually, the party broke up and I headed South, detouring from Greece to catch a unique spectacle in Sicily.
I awoke to the morning Sun, riding the rails South through Italy, along her Eastern shore. And as I sat, there rose a mountain outside the window; a high peak with a narrow, gray plume of smoke extending upwards into the atmosphere. This was I'd come to see: a Natural Disaster, The Volcano at the peak of its Glory. And so, train turned to bus, and bus to foot, as I approached this awesome site and camped in its shadow. Amidst the billowing ash, and Etna's groans, I pitched my tent with an unfettered view of the display that was to come with the approach of night.
And now, as the shadows grow long and blend together, dusk falls and the rivers of lava previously obscured by the sun's light, are becoming visible and beginning to glow bright. From the very apex of this monolith, lava shots upwards into the sky. And now, the dull thunderous roar, booms 'cross the foothills to my eager, straining ears.
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