Somewhere Beyond the Sea.... We Find Snow, and Lava.....

     One of our favorite activities here in Sicily is to drive the scenic roads, and there are no shortage of them. Yesterday we chose to drive a circular (ha!...circular...not!) route that included the entire 20 km length of SR Mareneve, a regional road through Mt. Etna National Park.  The word Mareneve is made up of two smaller words.....mare, meaning sea, and neve, meaning snow.  And that's what we found.... a Sea of Snow!

     The car's dashboard display indicated the temperature was about 18C (65F) when we left The Lemon Tree. As we climbed slowly through the lave-stone villages of Piedimonte Etnea and Linguaglossa, the temperature began to drop.  Turning left in Linguaglossa, we reached the beginning of SR Mareneve.... translation not needed.....

 
     By this time the display temp had dropped to 12C (54F), and we began to see snow along the road, piled against the lava-stone walls.....
           

      The temperature continued to drop and the amount of snow increased as we climbed through endless fields of lava.  When we reached the road's summit of around 5,500 feet above sea level, the temperature was 3C (36F) and we encountered sleet and dense fog.  The car's digital readout was flashing... "Possible Ice On Road".... in English!  How did it know!?

   
     It felt like we were on top of the world, but as we rounded a bend, the enormous volcano loomed in front of us.  What a sight.....!
 

   
     We began to descend, first through unexpected forests of white birch trees, then through countless fields of lava deposits.....

     These photos do not come close to expressing the enormity and power of this place.  Visiting here is truly a humbling experience.  We descended further, through the quaint Etna villages of Milo and Sant Alfio.  These towns are the essence of the Volcano, their roads literally paved in lava.  Buildings, walls, even the church are built from the material the Volcano has given them.....

     The temperature climbed back to 18C as we approached sea level, where all seemed back to normal.  Our journey through an admittedly small portion of the Land of Etna left us in awe of the Volcano and the people who live under it.  We can say we dipped our toe in the Sea of Snow....