It is a Sicilian tradition to drive on New Year's Day on the road that zigzags up the side of Mount Etna. No matter that red road signs suggest the road is already closed for the winter. Capodanno, the first day of the new year, is a chance for a little Sicilian madness, and crowds spill out from towns and villages around the golfo di Catánia to drive on crowded roads up towards the huge volcano.
Travel writing: the view from home
During these first days of April, we have not ventured far from home. And yet there is a tangible sense of having travelled - if not through space, then through time. Ten days ago, much of eastern Germany was still formidably wintry. The little ...