Middle-aged flash packers

Packed up and ready to go by 10am.
Today’s destination is Linguaglossa, a town close to the northern side of Mount Etna. There’s nothing special about LG but it’s a very convenient point to do our walking from.
You cannot summit the peak of Mount Etna without a guide. It’s a real cheats way of doing things as you get a cable car then a jeep and you only walk the last 300metres. The guide alone costs 100 euros per person and I’m just not bothered enough to do this.
There are some active craters but nothing like Stromboli so we are content to walk the lesser hiked North side.
Driving into LG was like driving into a Welsh mining town. The buildings are very dark and drab as many of them are made from lava rocks. It’s functional but not pretty.
Our apartment is owned by an older couple who spoke no English but were very keen to make sure we have everything we need. The flat reflects the LG feel but we do have a potential view of mount Etna should the cloud clear.
The house next door looks abandoned but on closer inspection I noticed it had an electricity supply and TV ariel. It’s really quite shocking how people live here, especially the elderly.
As we drove up to LG we noticed Romanian number plates on some of the cars and I saw people that were clearly Roma. Interesting that they should settle round here.
We had a walk along a newly refurbished cycle path that used to be an old railway. Very nice until we got to an old tunnel that seemed to go on forever – no sign of light at the end at all. I’m scared of tunnels and so we had to turn back.
We wandered around LG which didn’t look so bad with some sunlight on it, even better after a beer in the piazza.
Unfortunately no shops were open. We have been fantasising about cooking our own food but it’s not to be tonight. Hopefully tomorrow if we’ve got any energy left.