Full transcript
0:00Hello and welcome to today's video. In
0:02today's video, we're going to practice
0:04your English listening skills.
0:07That's right. I'm going to tell you a
0:09story and I want you to listen along and
0:11see how much you understand.
0:14My name is Michael. I'm the founder of
0:16English at the ready and it's my goal to
0:18make you fluent in English. If you want
0:20to become fluent in English as well,
0:22make sure to subscribe to the channel
0:24here on YouTube.
0:26Now, a couple weeks ago I filmed a
0:28similar video where I told you a bit
0:32more about myself. If you haven't yet
0:34watched that video, you can find it on
0:35my channel. Got a lot of positive
0:38feedback, so I think this is a format
0:40that you guys enjoy, which is why I've
0:42decided to film another podcast style
0:46listening video. And today, I'm going to
0:48tell you about the time I hiked an
0:51active volcano. Believe it or not, you
0:54can hike active volcanoes, not just
0:57mountains, but volcanoes.
0:59You have to do it from a safe distance,
1:01but it's an amazing experience and I
1:04want to tell you a bit more about that
1:06today.
1:082 years ago, I was in Italy.
1:11I love Italy. I think Italy is a
1:13beautiful country, lots of amazing
1:15history, food, culture, art. If you're
1:18from Italy, let me know in the comments.
1:20If you've ever been to Italy, let me
1:22know.
1:23But, I was in Naples.
1:26And Naples is a town on the
1:29Mediterranean Sea. If you've ever been
1:31to Naples, you probably know that the
1:33food there is amazing. The pizza is what
1:36Naples is known for. Now, I was in
1:39Naples and it had always been a dream of
1:42mine to visit the island of Stromboli.
1:46Stromboli is an island in the
1:48Mediterranean and it's a volcanic
1:50island.
1:51The volcano is still active and it's
1:53been active for the last 2,000 years.
1:58Believe it or not, the ancient Romans
2:00used it as a lighthouse because it was
2:03always erupting. It was always there and
2:06you could rely on it when you were
2:08navigating in the dark. I had always
2:10been fascinated by the island of
2:12Stromboli and I was in Naples, so I
2:14thought, "What a perfect time to go
2:16visit and to finally make this dream
2:18come true." So, I went alone and I
2:21boarded a ferry at 10:00 p.m.
2:25I still remember boarding that ferry. I
2:27was the only foreigner there. Uh it was
2:30November, so not a very popular time to
2:34travel in Europe, but it was full of
2:36Italians, full of locals. I felt really
2:39like I was getting an authentic
2:41experience boarding that ferry. I
2:42remember I had booked a state room. If
2:46you don't know what a state room is,
2:47it's basically like a hotel room, but on
2:50a ship or a ferry or a boat.
2:53So, I got to my state room. Uh I think I
2:55still have some photos of that state
2:57room. I'll leave them here on the screen
2:59and I went to bed. I remember falling
3:01asleep to the sound of the waves. I
3:03remember looking out the window and
3:06seeing the lights of the coast in the
3:08distance. It was truly a unique and
3:10magical experience. Now, the ferry was
3:12set to arrive the following morning at
3:166:00 a.m.
3:17Believe it or not, it was an overnight
3:19ferry. So, it left at around 10:00 in
3:21the evening and it arrived the next day
3:23at 6:00. I knew that Stromboli was
3:27visible from the ocean at night. Again,
3:30because there's a volcano on the island,
3:32which is in a constant state of
3:33eruption. So, in the darkness, you can
3:36look out and you can see a gold or
3:39orange glow in the distance. I really
3:41wanted to witness this. So, I set my
3:44alarm for 4:00 in the morning.
3:46I woke up at 4:00. I had an okay sleep.
3:49It wasn't amazing. If you've ever been
3:51on a ship, you know that sometimes it
3:54can be a bit bumpy, but I remember
3:56waking up at 4:00.
3:58I had nothing but my backpack with me,
4:00and I went up to the top deck.
4:04On the deck, I was the only one there.
4:06There was nobody else there.
4:08It was extremely windy. It was humid,
4:10and I could smell the salt water in the
4:13air, and I looked out in the distance,
4:16and finally, I saw Stromboli, the island
4:19of Stromboli, and the volcano erupting.
4:23You could actually hear it erupt. We
4:25were probably 20 30 km away from the
4:28island, and you could hear the booms of
4:32the eruption, which happened every five
4:35or so minutes. I still remember that.
4:37It was very unique. I had never seen
4:40anything like that before.
4:42And as we got closer to the island, I
4:45could see the volcano erupting more
4:47clearly. We arrived at the very small
4:49port in Stromboli, on the island, at
4:53around 6:00 in the morning.
4:55And I remember getting off the ferry,
4:57and being a bit confused, because it was
4:59pitch black. It was November.
5:02It was quite warm in that part of the
5:05Mediterranean
5:06in November, it can still get quite
5:09warm.
5:10So, it wasn't cold, but it was dark. The
5:12island of Stromboli is small. It doesn't
5:15have so much in the way of tourist
5:17infrastructure. So, I was trying to
5:18navigate through the dark alleyways at
5:226:00 in the morning.
5:24I had nothing but my backpack and my
5:26phone to guide me.
5:28And finally,
5:29I arrived at the hotel. It wasn't really
5:32a hotel, it was more a bed and
5:34breakfast.
5:36But of course, it was 7:00 in the
5:37morning, 6:45, and there was nobody at
5:40the reception.
5:42So, I arrived at this hotel, and I
5:44didn't have anybody I could speak to. I
5:46was sitting outside in basically this
5:48small lobby.
5:50There was just a couch and actually a
5:52couple cats.
5:54One of the things I like the most about
5:56the Mediterranean and the islands in
5:57Greece and Italy
5:59uh and in Spain are the cats. There are
6:03a lot of cats. They're very friendly.
6:05They come up to you. They purr. They rub
6:07against you.
6:09And that's something we don't have where
6:11I'm from in Canada. We don't have stray
6:13cats running around. So, it was just me
6:15and a couple cats watching the sunrise
6:17from the lobby of the bed and breakfast.
6:20Finally, at around 8:00 I think I did
6:23contact the owner.
6:25Probably he was asleep when I arrived,
6:27but uh the owner did arrive at 8:00 and
6:30let me into my room.
6:32And I decided that I would explore the
6:35island a bit. Again, Stromboli is a very
6:38small island.
6:39There's not so much to see.
6:42But, I went down to the dock and I found
6:45a guide. I found a fisherman
6:48who agreed to take me on his boat around
6:51the island for I think it was 40 euros,
6:5450 euros. I can't remember exactly.
6:57So, he took me around the island. We
6:59went on his little boat. He showed me
7:01the black sand beaches. The beaches are
7:04black because the rock uh disintegrates
7:07and it turns into
7:09black stones, small black stones. So,
7:12that's definitely unique. Most beaches
7:14are the classic beach you think of is
7:16white, has white sand. But, on Stromboli
7:19the beaches are black cuz they are
7:21volcanic.
7:23He took me to a couple villages. I went
7:25to shore.
7:26One was half abandoned. Of course, there
7:29were a lot of cats there as well. And
7:31then, he took me around to the other
7:33side of the island where looking up I
7:36could actually see the volcano and I
7:39could see a a
7:40of smoke.
7:42The air smelt a bit like sulfur. If
7:45you've ever been near a volcano, you
7:46know what I'm talking about.
7:48Sulfur smells a bit like rotten eggs.
7:51It's a gas, and it's not very pleasant,
7:54but it definitely added to the
7:56experience. He took me around the island
7:58and finally to this rock formation in
8:01the sea, and I remember he turned off
8:03the motor of the boat near the rock
8:05formation, and the waves were quite
8:07large, so I could feel the swells going
8:10up and down.
8:12It was quite an interesting experience.
8:14There was what looked like a face
8:16in the rocks. Eventually, he took me
8:18back to the village, and I went back to
8:22my hotel and prepared to hike the
8:25volcano because the best time to see the
8:27volcano
8:28is in
8:29the evening. It's when it gets dark,
8:32because you can see
8:34the orange glow of the lava. At about
8:376:00 or 7:00 p.m.,
8:40I remember meeting a guide in
8:43the city center. It wasn't really a
8:46city, in the town center.
8:47And we went up together. We hiked up the
8:50volcano. There was a path. It probably
8:53took about an hour to get up the
8:55mountain. He took us to a spot which was
8:57a safe distance from the crater. The sun
9:01was setting, and I remember standing
9:03there looking behind me at the ocean, or
9:06rather the Mediterranean Sea. There was
9:08the most beautiful sunset. I could see
9:10the distant lights of the mainland. I
9:12could see boats. And on the other side
9:14of me, I could see this massive crater.
9:17And of course, as it got darker, I could
9:19see the lava. The lava was spewing out
9:23of the crater at regular intervals. This
9:26volcano had been erupting for 2,000
9:28years non-stop.
9:31And I remember my guide told me that a
9:34few years ago, you would have been able
9:35to hike higher, but there was a sudden
9:38eruption and unfortunately, a couple
9:41hikers lost their lives. So, since that
9:44incident, you could only watch the
9:45eruption from a lower elevation. We
9:47stood there for about 30 minutes taking
9:50in the eruptions, and every 5 minutes or
9:52so, there was a bigger one. So, they
9:54would come in cycles. There would be a
9:56big one, then it would be relatively
9:58flat for a few minutes, and then there
10:00would be another big one. And every time
10:02one of the big eruptions happened, I
10:05remember you could hear a very loud
10:07boom. When I eventually made it back to
10:10my hotel, I found it a bit difficult to
10:13fall asleep at first because every few
10:16minutes, there was a loud boom.
10:19You could hear this boom all over the
10:21island, but eventually, I got used to it
10:23and I was able to sleep. Stromboli is
10:26truly a unique place. I remember it felt
10:29almost tropical.
10:31It was November. There weren't that many
10:33tourists at all, and I could hike up an
10:36active volcano and watch it erupt at
10:39night. I know it sounds quite dangerous,
10:41but it wasn't nearly as dangerous as it
10:43sounds because there's actually a
10:45warning system. Seismologists,
10:48by the way, seismology is the study of
10:52the Earth,
10:53earthquakes, tectonic plates, volcanoes,
10:56and a seismologist is somebody who
10:59studies seismology.
11:00But, seismologists constantly monitor
11:04the volcano, and they can generally
11:07predict when a big eruption is going to
11:09happen,
11:10so they can tell people to evacuate. And
11:14there is a system of sirens and early
11:16warning alerts. I spent two nights on
11:19that island, and I still remember it
11:20very fondly. If you're ever in the area
11:23and you're looking for a bit of an
11:24adventure,
11:26go to Stromboli. Visiting Stromboli was
11:28one of the most unique experiences I've
11:30ever had. Let me know in the comments,
11:32have you ever hiked an active volcano?
11:34What's the most adventurous thing you've
11:37done? I hope you enjoyed today's video.
11:39I hope you could understand most of what
11:41I was saying, and I really appreciate
11:43your support. So, if you want to improve
11:45your English, make sure to subscribe to
11:46English at the ready here on YouTube,
11:48leave a like, and if you want to study
11:50with me in my online programs, click the
11:53link in the description below to learn
11:56more. I'll see you in the next video.