Sunset from Mt Etna.

I set my alarm to catch the sunrise but didn't need it in the end - I tossed and turned all night for some reason.. The Tiramisu?
It was well worth it - although from my balcony there is a hill obscuring the horizon, I caught it well enough.
We had planned a trip up Mt Etna to watch the sunset and hadn't any warm clothes with us - great excuse to go shopping! I bought a lovely jacket in Geox that'll be great in winter!
So, armed with our new jackets, camera etc we caught the bus which took us to the base of Mount Etna. Amazing desolation from the last major eruption in 2002. It had cut a huge swathe through the pine forest and there were lots of burnt trees still standing which were like sculptures.
We transferred to a huge Mercedes 4x4 bus/truck vehicle - a real beast of a thing, and then the real fun began! They had made a 'road' by compressing the lava rock down. That was it! Just a slightly flat bit amongst all the boulders, ash and pumice! We stopped at 1900m for pics of a crater - dormant - then proceeded to the top. Every now and then there was a sulphurous belch of smoke from the top and from a slightly smaller peak close by!
It was getting a bit hairy by now..
We rounded a bend, climbing all the time past little mounds of snow, until we reached the most amazing viewpoint to watch the sun go down. My camera (still on intelligent auto - *coughs*) only took a couple - it didn't seem to like the sun. What setting should I have had it on?
We could see for miles... Beautiful..
Then the descent! Argh! Scary!! How the truck driver could see, Lord only knows! I was very happy when we arrived at our dinner destination in the forest chalet. Large beer consumed pronto!
I slept on the coach all the way back - and crashed as soon as I got to bed! It was a long, but very memorable day.. :-))