Sicily, Mt. Etna... and The Godfather

Here's some Italy travelogue, well, actually Sicily travelogue. Above, our two heroes are seen with the Etna volcano in the background. Etna is Europe's largest active volcano. It was spitting out lava while we were there. The top is currently at about 10,800 feet (3300 meters). (It varies!) We went up to the 8200 feet (2480 meters) level (via cable car). Here is what it looked like from there:
It was COLD up there. We didn't stay long. Within 90 minutes of this picture being taken, the kids were back at sea level, and in the pool at 80F.

Here is a GoogleEarth View. The yellow marker shows the place at which we took the picture of us in the snow. (The Google shots were from May/June 2006).


Those of you who are fans of The Godfather movie will remember this scene:
Well, here we are, in the same place (but without the shotguns):

Francis Ford Coppola filmed most of the Sicilian scenes not in Western Sicily (where the village of Corleone really is) but in the East, near the beach resort of Taormina, in the village of Savoca. The Bar Vitelli is where Michael Corleone met Apollonia's father. Savoca also has the church where Michael and Apollonia began their brief and unfortunately explosive marriage.

We really liked Sicily. It is a beautiful place, rich in history, and with really nice people.