cinema | История Современной Золушки из Вестминстера. Westminster's Cinderella.

Buongiorno a tutti! I am continuing with my Italian sketches, my friends!

Today I want to tell you about such a great event I had, more precisely about the conquest of the stratovolcano Etna! Aww, I remember now the voice of our wonderful guide Anna. When she was talking about Etna (and about anything), I felt like being on some special planet, in another world perhaps. In general I liked her mysterious, intriguing voice and funny stories.

So, Etna…even before reaching Sicily, I have dreamed about meeting the volcano. First of all, it is something unknown to me and (excuse my English) is very cool and most importantly, I believe in the power of the Universe, nature, energy of different levels and so on. In other words, I find it very interesting.

From our hotel Anya and Zhenya (our guides and representatives of the company “Pac Group”) organized tours for any taste and of course there was an excursion to Etna followed by a trip to Taormina. The time was flying and Natasha was waiting for the hour of her departure to Etna. The thing is that this excursion was on Tuesdays and I worked these days. But here came the long-awaited Tuesday when I could go to Etna, with the proviso that I would take photos of the tourists (okay, that’s not entirely true because Artemio said that it would be great if I could do it while they’ll be climbing the volcano, showing their emotions and actions, and if I fail to do so there is nothing to worry about). But being an extremely responsible person I could not allow the second option happen to me (to come back with nothing), so most of the tour I sang “I always take the camera with me, with me” and provided the song with some action of video-making. In other words, the conquest of Mount Etna was: “Oh! I need to get footage of our beautiful russo turisto getting on the bus! And now I should film them getting off the bus! Oh, there is a good view of the volcano! And here our tourist sees the stones, and here…and there…” In general, it was briefly about my first trip to the volcano.

If talking in a bit more details then, of course, I experienced what I wanted to experience and I was happy about the trip to Etna.

First of all, Anya (our guide) told some very interesting stories about the Italians, their life and education in Italy, etc. When I was on the bus I thought that I just had to share these incredible facts and legends on my blog, but how can I find enough time to tell you everything!? And unfortunately some stories have been already forgotten. Our driver took us to a certain height (I think it was about 1000 m, not sure). And further if desired we went up with the cable car (and then another bus) to a height of 3000m. Everyone said “arrivederci” to Sicilian heat and “Ciao” to cold Etna, because there was long-awaited +5C at the crater. In truth it was very strange to feel such a temperature after a month and a half spending in “the steam room” called Syracuse. I was wearing a lightweight jacket under the large jacket rented there for 3 euros (see the photo above). In general I was “the cabbage” and I was on the top: happy, satisfied, with the camera in my hands. There we were greeted by a local Sicilian guide at Etna. We walked from rock to rock, from edge to edge, from crater to crater. The guide spoke in 3 languages to us: Italian, French and English. What can I say about him? He was such a great man! And the reason of him being so perfect as a guide because of his choice of the languages spoken (I learnt English, French and learning Italian now) so I could practice my listening skills in all the languages I learnt and I must say I was pretty happy that in every case the information is more or less was the same, haha.

While I was listening to the tour guide, I was also looking around, filming our tourists, I still had time to collect Lava stones (with my fifth hand) for my dear grandmother Zhorzhetta. It’s a fact that the soil and the volcanic rocks of Etna are very fertile and I think there is a powerful energy inside them so I don’t regret I was working hard there (at Etna) and took a package of stones from the volcano. The interesting thing is that I then dragged this kilogram of stones to Russia. It was funny and heavy but I followed the slogan of Nike and I’ve just done it! The musical band “Uma2rman” singing “we are Russians – we are simple people”, so if there is heat, if there is snow I will anyway bring “the volcano” home! haha

At that day Etna was foggy and unfortunately we were unable to see the stunning views of the city of Catania (see the photos above). Besides I was filming a lot and majority of my “seeing experience” was through the lens so Artemio and my dear team let me go to Etna and Taormina in a couple of weeks again. However this time there was a downpour at the volcano therefore I decided to discover the surroundings of the wondrous natural object at a height of 1000 m. Our tourists were not particularly happy, and as about me – I enjoyed this trip as I usually do! I am still looking on the bright side of everything coming to my life!

(was trying to smile and take a photo even though there was rain pouring down on me)

Of course Etna has become a bright symbol of Sicily and in connection with its popularity there are gift shops, cafes and even a 7D cinema, which I had a chance to experience on my first visit to the volcano. I remember visiting a similar cinema in Singapore but I think it was less exciting and impressive than the one in Sicily. In the movie YOU are a passenger travelling with a cable car, and then by another transport (I don’t remember which one), but the main thing is that everything goes out of control there: Etna starts to erupt, you’re in a rush, you are surrounded by lava, you can feel the wind blowing into you through the broken glass of the car, everywhere you go there is some kind of danger and there are rats running on your feet…well, it was a good time)))

(before the cinema with one of our tourists, lovely boy and a friend called Roman).

Etna itself was really impressive too but I guess I would have loved to spend some more time there and probably alone. However, one day I might go there again…I hope so.

This part of the excursion was followed by the town of Taormina. It was a contrast trip: from cold to hot, from nature to the city. On the way Anya was telling us about our destination and its beautiful tourist attractions. Fortunately I still remember something. For instance, there is a film festival hold in Taormina, which brings together actors of different ranks including Hollywood stars. The city is two-leveled where on the second level there are shops, tourist places, and on the first one there are many luxury hotels located along the beach. According to Anna these hotels are very expensive and probably beautiful but they have one big disadvantage such as the railroad passing majority of them which absolutely spoils the impression about the hotel and the city. And when there is a clear sunny day with good weather conditions one can view the mainland of Italy! I enjoyed it very much. It’s like with the volcano (unusual great feelings ) when you realize there is a continent starting in front of you!

On my first trip to Taormina I succeed to go to the gardens that are really famous among tourists (Garden of Villa Comunale). They conquered my heart and soul: it was magical, beautiful and quiet there. And of course I made my 1,000 and one photo there))).

And on my second trip to the town I ate a real Italian pizza! I still remember the taste! And then I visited the Ancient theatre of Taormina. At first I doubted that I wanted to go there (because of the huge line near the theater), but still decided to go there and was happy about it. I would simply call it “I came, I saw, I conquered”. Actually it was cloudy and humid after the rain but nevertheless I fully enjoyed the beautiful views from there.