I got out of bed to find the missing chocolate in the middle of the quilt; it must have got tucked under during the bed turn down service and rolled out overnight.

Again, we sat outside for breakfast. The selection was just as good as it had been the previous day with some different choices, which was refreshing.

After breakfast we took a leisurely walk to the Monte cable car station and purchased tickets. The ride was lovely and smooth and gave us excellent views over the harbour and town.

We chose not to visit the Monte Palace and its tropical garden in favour of visiting the Botanical Gardens. This meant a short walk and another cable car ride, this time overlooking the Ribeira de João Gomes valley. Before going into the Botanical Gardens, we had a refreshing drink watching lizards basking in the sunshine.

We then descended into the botanical gardens which were delightful. There was a lot of walking up and down to view everything the garden had to offer. The famous carpet bedding was still spectacular even at this time of year.

We had lunch in the café where I chose banana cake accompanied by freshly squeezed passion fruit juice.

When we had seen all that the gardens had to offer, we caught the Botanical Garden cable car back to Monte where we had a drink to cool down before descending via the Monte cable car to Funchal. We walked back to the hotel to chill out before it was time for dinner.

We dined in the Vivaldi which was one of the few restaurants open on a Sunday. The restaurant was full but they were able to find us a table. The food was delicious and the restaurant had a lovely atmosphere. I chose salmon with shrimp sauce and Mr C chose parrot fish; both dishes were brought to the table under a polished metal dome. For dessert I chose mango and meringue and Mr C opted for passionfruit souffle. We accompanied the meal with a lovely local wine.

We stopped at a nearby bar for a nightcap, but for some reason we were ignored so voted with our feet and returned to the hotel’s rooftop bar instead. This turned out to be a good choice because as we arrived back at the hotel it was just starting to rain. There was a heavy downpour but the canopy over the bar kept us dry.

Our alarm was set for 6.30 to enable us to arrive for breakfast at 7.30 (as the doors opened). As we arrived we were surprised to find that the room was quickly filling up with a large number of Americans. We couldn’t help but overhear their loud conversations; they were joining a trip to Etna. We wondered if they were going to be travelling on the same trip as us.

Breakfast was a bit of a rush; we had a taxi booked at 7.55 to take us to Taormina bus station, the joining point for our trip to Etna.

The coach arrived on time and we were surprised that it was a double decker. We found a good seat on the top deck. The tour guide pointed out interesting places and features as we traveled, also sharing the history of the area. As we entered the Alcantara Gorge (unlike our previous trip to the gorge) she explained all the things that we could do in our one hour visit to the gorge.

We chose not to go down to the gorge, instead we set off on a walk to enjoy the parkland and viewpoints looking down on the gorge from above.

Next we continued on our journey to Etna where we had (a rather rushed) lunch before enjoying the Etna experience. Mr C decided to go further up the volcano, via cable cars and jeeps so that he could experience a walk around one of the live craters. I chose to stay lower down the mountain and enjoy a walk in the Silvestri Crater area,  which are extinct but fascinating to see.

I walked to the top of the crater where I encountered strong winds followed by mist and rain. It was all I could do to stay on my feet. As I walked down off the crater the rain had stopped and the mist had lifted.

I considered walking another nearby route to see the effects of  lava flow. Looking up at the walkway the mist came down and completely obliterated the area, a noticed a lone figure at the top of the hill disappearing into the fog. I decided that with a deadline to meet, walking up alone was not a good idea. As I made my way back towards the cafes and souvenir shops I could hardly see where I was walking.

By the time I got back to the cafes the rain had stopped and the fog had lifted. I purchased a book on Etna and had a cappacino in one of the cafes. As I was leaving Mr C popped into view, the cable car had arrived sooner than expected.

Driving back from Etna we had a brief (not advertised) stop at a honey farm where we were able to taste mini samples of their produce. To my palate the honey was not as good as the honey we got from Chain Bridge Honey farm on our frequent visits to Northumberland.

Back at the hotel we chilled out before dining in Casa Nicolodi restaurant. We sat in a rooftop garden area with rustic walls, leafy trees, lemons and pomegranates. The food was lovely and the service so attentive that we felt we had been welcomed into a family home. On this occasion I chose sea bass coated in almonds with fennel and almond salad followed by Sicilian citrus mouse. Just as we were finishing our wine the heavens opened and everyone dashed inside,  seating themselves at the available indoor tables. The hosts were duly attentive in making sure that everyone was comfortably relocated.