Sigonella, Sicily (Italy)

Planned departure for around 0900, but had lots of trouble with flight plan. In addition, the field went IFR, along with freezing rain. Luckily, it didn't require de-icing, but you can imagine that I was getting worried we wouldn't be able to leave. Finally got off the ground by 1500 (...) and made it through Dijon's airspace (they didn't even say anything). Everything going great - weather improved and radios working - until we hit the Italian border. After we checked in with the controllers there, we never heard from anyone again all day. We made calls everywhere we could, but it never worked... Flew right by Roma and Napoli with no comms - started to see Mount Etna pretty far out (there is LAVA flowing down the side of it!). Picked up some controllers near Sicily and they passed us over to people in Catania. That was a relief, actually. Etna was something - it looked like the lava came more than half way down the mountain and people acted like that was normal. My first time at Sigonnella - and we had very little trouble getting a place to stay. Ship had left a message for us to get there by noon tomorrow, so we minimized crew rest to make sure we make it. Room isn't very nice - ceiling is peeling...