Stop off at Randazzo station for a coffee and a bite to eat.Credit: Alamy
It’s in scheduled stops such as this one that the Ferrovia Circumetnea delivers a microcosm of authentic Sicilian village life.
Attached to the bar, close to the flow of coffee and grappa, is an annexe, a kind of Sicilian men’s shed, where the town’s local elderly men gather to socialise.
At an altitude of 765 metres, medieval Randazzo, with a population of 10,000, is the nearest town to Etna’s summit. It’s notable for its historical buildings constructed with the local black lava stone, almost as dark as the looks from the conductor back on the train.
Randazzo, built around the three sooty-stoned churches of Santa Maria, San Nicolo and San Martino, is not the highest point of the railway – that distinction belongs to Rocca Calanna, a large sandstone cliff that rises to an altitude of 967 metres further around the line.
It’s difficult to resist the conclusion that these lofty communities are death-defying, as the threat of a catastrophic eruption can’t be dismissed, even though volcanologists are nowadays more accomplished at predicting Etna’s myriad moods.
The eruption of 1971 threatened several villages with its lava flow destroying some orchards and vineyards but no volcanic detonation has ever compared, at least in recorded history, to the peak’s 1669 eruption.
That was when massive lava flows destroyed not only villages in their wake but also the coastal city of Catania, now Sicily’s second-biggest city after Palermo, that’s little more than 30 kilometres below the mountain.
Even to this day, trains that arrive at the city’s railway station cross the site of the 17th century lava flow that reached the city.
Local produce – farfalle with pistachio cream sauce at Gli Antichi Sapori trattoria in Randazzo.Credit: Alamy
Yet the hardy inhabitants of Etna’s perilous foothills balance the inherent danger of living below an active volcano with the benefits of the bounty of produce that the mountain’s rich soils provide to farmers, orchardists and vintners alike.
Among its most cherished produce are pistachio nuts, famed across Italy, that are cultivated around the Etna village of Bronte, half an hour along the rails from Randazzo.
The nuts find their way into everything from gelato to pasta dishes such as the farfalle with cream pistachio sauce served at a fine local trattoria, Gli Antichi Sapori, back in Randazzo.
By mid-afternoon, it’s time to head back down the mountain, and up another one, to Taormina, nowadays full of flashy designer-label boutiques designed to serve the new waves of well-heeled White Lotus-enticed tourists.
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As unequivocally lovely as Taormina is – with stupendous unimpeded views of an impeccably behaved Mount Etna benign in all of her snowy glory from the terrace of my hotel – it’s a world removed from the more authentic Sicily I’d encountered aboard the Ferrovia Circumetnea (and I really would have liked a snap of that cranky conductor).
THE DETAILS
RIDE
Tickets for the Ferrovia Circumetnea cost as little as €8 ($13) and are best bought from its stations rather than the confounding online rail company portal. The service, in true Sicilian style, can be as unpredictable as Mount Etna itself, so consult your tour guide or hotel concierge as to the train’s status before you set off. If you’re staying in Taormina, the easiest option is to take a scheduled 45-minute train from Taormina-Giardini station by the coast to Catania Centrale and on to Catania Borgo Station by the local metro where you can connect to Ferrovia Circumetnea. See circumetnea.it
TOUR
Albatross Tours’ 17-day in-depth “Italy, the Deep South & Sicily” fully escorted journey by first-class air-conditioned coach begins in Rome and concludes in Palermo, Sicily with a four-night stay in Taormina. Prices, airfares excluded, from $10,987 a person twin share, including 16 nights’ hotel accommodation, 28 meals and more. Phone 1300 135 015 to book or visit albatrosstours.com.au.
FLY
Emirates flies daily from Australia to Dubai with connections to Rome’s Fiumicino Airport. From Palermo, take a domestic flight to Fiumicino and connect with Emirates internationally back to Australia, via Dubai. See emirates.com
MORE italia.it
The writer travelled as a guest of Albatross Tours and Emirates.
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Publish date : 2024-10-01 10:30:00
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