The only volcano I've been to. On a family holiday in July 1979, I'd just turned 20, we travelled by 7-seater Mercedes taxi, laid on by the hotel where we were staying in Capaci, the 200 miles to Etna. Most of the ascent was then undertaken in low-geared Alpine mini-buses. The final few hundred meters was on foot, to the main crater. We were able to get right up to the rim, protected only be a rope barrier, and look down into the the crater floor. The smell was distinctive, and there were vents in the sides of the crater wall emitting vapour. Now and then we'd feel a rumble and occasionally the crater floor would crack open to reveal a reddish glow.
The landscape at the summit was grey, like a gravelly moonscape, with patches of grey snow. My brother and I threw grey snowballs at each other. At sea-level the temperature was a toasty 30°; up at the summit, at around 11,000 feet/3360 meters, it was cooler though not unpleasantly so. We were in shorts, t-shirts, sandals. I remember my parents, both lifelong heavy smokers, struggling with the altitude, but my brother and I were untroubled by it.
Most of the descent was by cable car, to where the taxis were parked, at a cafe where we had some lunch.
About two weeks later, after we'd returned home, Etna erupted. The cable car we'd descended by was destroyed by lava flow, but as they were accustomed to this, it was all rebuilt quickly. In the winter months the slopes of Etna are a popular ski resort.
The landscape at the summit was grey, like a gravelly moonscape, with patches of grey snow. My brother and I threw grey snowballs at each other. At sea-level the temperature was a toasty 30°; up at the summit, at around 11,000 feet/3360 meters, it was cooler though not unpleasantly so. We were in shorts, t-shirts, sandals. I remember my parents, both lifelong heavy smokers, struggling with the altitude, but my brother and I were untroubled by it.
Most of the descent was by cable car, to where the taxis were parked, at a cafe where we had some lunch.
About two weeks later, after we'd returned home, Etna erupted. The cable car we'd descended by was destroyed by lava flow, but as they were accustomed to this, it was all rebuilt quickly. In the winter months the slopes of Etna are a popular ski resort.
bring Doctor Who, it wouldn't surprise me if there were 4 or 5 fotnrsdictory episodes about the Fall of Pompeii, so I'll narrow it down and say that the one I remember was one of the 20st century regenerations of the doctor- somewhere from Eccelston's debut to the present. I'm not being intentionally obtuse- I just don't remember which doctor it was. If pressed, I would guess David Tenant, and if told I was wrong guess Matt Smith. 
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