Anyone know the condition of Sicily after Etna?
 

<BR> <BR>I've looked for news reports with no results. Does anyone know what the areas around Etna are like these days? Are there still any closings etc. or are things getting back to normal, as we know they can?<BR><BR>Thanks!<BR><BR>E<BR>[email protected] om

Likewise for me. Also, I'd like to know what's going on with Stromboli. They evacuated most (all?) of the residents when it blew its' top and weren't letting any tourists go there. Any volcano fans out there?<BR>

I don't know what it's like now. I was there in November during and after eruptions. There was a great deal of ash in the streets in Catania. It looked like dirty snow a few days after a moderate snowfall. When I was in a little town in the Nebrodi Moutains, pretty far from Etna, one night there was a light rain. The next morning there was black ash all over everything. It was called &quot;pioggia nera&quot; (black rain). On the way home from Sicily, my flight from Catania to Milan was cancelled and I had to fly to Rome, to connect with a flight to JFK, which was NOT where I wanted to fly. Alitalia never bothered to explain why the flight was cancelled, but I'm fairly sure it had nothing to do with Etna (was either because of bad weather in Milan, or just whim, maybe). Just before I left home and for a few weeks after I returned, I kept trying to read news about Sicily in Giornale di Sicilia http://www.gds.it/ (site not working at the momnent, but it works more often than not). I didn't read of too much further disruption caused by Etna, but I know that the Catania airport was closed, on and off, several times, both before and during my trip. The problem was not the actual eruptions, but the ash, which reduced visibility. While in Sicily, I also read that a lot of sea life in the waters around the Aeolian Islands was dying because of increased temperatures and activity of underwater hot springs, all connected to the volcano system. I also read in Two years ago when I was in Sicily, Etna was active, and tours up to the top were limited. Only certain paths up were open when I was there, which happened to be the first day that people were allowed up in a few weeks.<BR><BR>I'd suggest reading Il Giornale di Sicilia online before your trip. That was the only paper giving full coverage to the Fiat workers protest that was having a HUGE impact on transportion and movement within and to and from Sicily during the period when I was there, blocking train stations, cutting off access to Palermo airport, closing the port of Messina, blocking many parts of the autostrada, etc. (There was just a little coverage in La Repubblica and even less in Corriere della Sera.)

<BR> <BR>Thank you, cmt, for the information. I'll keep looking.

I just spent New Year's with my window on Etna, and there was just smoke and ash, but not enough to do more than make the ground a little dirty. Nothing dangerous and not a problem at all. Things are normal and working at 100%. <BR>Ciao, <BR>Mel

Things are normal everywhere. I spent New Year's there and there were no problems. The airport does close at sunset because they don't want any problems, but other than that, things are all good.

<BR> <BR>That's good news, Melissa. :) <BR><BR>Thanks so much for the update.