Gran Cratere Vulcano

It was a fantastic day for climbing to the Gran Cratere (extra 1) of sulphurous Vulcano: cool with clouds, to save us from sunburn and dehydration, but with good visibility. From sea level we could see fumaroles at the top emitting smoke and as we gradually got closer, the earth underfoot changed quite suddenly from black to yellow. There were a few scrambles and a few large steps through gullies where rainwater had washed away the rock, but it was pretty manageable. This was the lowest of our climbs, at 340m and the closest we've got to seeing smoke and steam coming out of a crater. We stayed gazing for ages and had a bit of a walk round the rim.

The walk back down was surprisingly quick and once Firstborn had made sure I was OK down the rougher parts and was safely onto a path, he bounded ahead. Secondborn and I came across someone struggling up the hill with what looked like a fridge on his back (extra 2). No, not Tony Hawks but a scientist taking gas monitoring equipment to the summit.

Back at sea-level, our plan to take a sulphurous mud bath was thwarted as the baths were undergoing work - though some people had broken in - but we swam at the 'hot water beach' where fumaroles blasted warm bubbles from rocks under the water. I was surprised that some of the rocks on the sea-bed were too hot to walk on.

Our meal out was right next to one of the sulphur Faraglioni (extra 3).