In October 2006, more than thirty Badgers joined with half a dozen Notre Dame fans to experience life in the shadow of the volcano - under Sicily's famed Mt. Etna. For more than a week, they crisscrossed that island crossroads of the Mediterranean world. Click here to view photos from the trip. (Thanks to Martha for providing the poem.)

(Best read after two glasses of wine)
by Martha Scanlon MA’68

Many stories are told of Sicilian wars
During the past twenty-five hundred years
But I will tell you about a recent invasion
That left many Sicilians in tears

On the eighth of October, two thousand six
In Sicily, there arrived
Forty-one Badgers and Domers who met
A beguiling Italian guide

Their trip had been planned with considerable care
But immediately things went askew
Four were without clean clothes to wear
Because their bags had not made it through

The tourists took their first look around
In Taormina’s quaint little stores
They bought almost all the umbrellas in town
When the heavens began to pour

They proceeded by bus to Villa del Casale
Where Romans lived and loved indoors
Their guide chased out barbarians and rats
While they admired the mosaic floors

Uncle John led the charge up Agrigento ridge
To see three temples in sore need of repair
Uninspired by their leader, the rest of the troops
Took their merry ole time getting there

Mt Etna, to be scaled the next afternoon,
That night expressed its fiery dismay
But Linda and Blane, the sentries on duty,
Woke no one to see the gorgeous display!

As the group ascended Mt Etna’s crest
They were awed by the grey soundless sight
Barren hills, black lava, deep craters at rest
Were stark evidence of the volcano’s might

The trip thus continued from sea to sea
On a bus that stopped every other minute
So ladies could stand in long lines to pee
Before they were herded back in it

The back of the bus was not a treat
Its springs had sprung in 500 BC
Poor Chris had to sit on an errant seat
That shifted and squeaked continuously

Buoyed by Tom’s lectures on free trade and the dollar
Debbie, Nancy and several of their peers
Made efforts to boost the Euro still higher
By buying lovely Sicilian souvenirs

Too soon their trip reached its end
Badgers and Domers had to leave for the States
Sicilians breathed only a short sigh of relief
For replacements were already at the gates

Now to John and Tom and especially fair Giulia
I think I can speak for all when I say
This has been a beautiful journey—and thank you
For keeping rain away until the last day