The island of Vulcano, Sicily

Black sand beach

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We are now on the island of Vulcano, which is a volcanic island with a still active and smoking volcano.  You can smell the sulfur vapors in the air when you get off the ferry, it smells like rotten eggs (either that or everyone on the island has a terrible case of flatulents all the time).  The english word volcano comes from the name of this island, and this island was once thought to be the gates to hell (it maybe true, this is the only place where we got rained on the entire trip...... so far).  They have sulfur mud baths here that bubble up from the volcano that you can bath in, it is supposed to be very therapeutic. I tried, and unfortunately, it was not a cure for love handles........ You can then run over and rinse off in the ocean where the water also bubbles.  The only downside is that even after 4 showers later, I think I can still smell the sulfur on my skin.  The island has black sand beaches, which while being unusual, are very pretty (and you can always tell where you have sand stuck on your body). You can also climb up to the crater of the volcano, which you are warned not to sit on the ground as the toxic fumes hang close to the ground.  I am happy to report that I made it up and down alive, and the only side effect from the toxic gas was a craving for a cookie from the sweet shop (no wonder that the mud baths couldn't cure my love handles)!!