Day 15 – August 7th – Messina, Italy (Sicily)
Iconic statue at the entry of the harbor.
We had a relaxing morning because we didn’t arrive in port until 12:30 – after we arrived, we (Art, Cheryl, Murray and Adam and Susan) went on a tour of Mount Etna and time on our own in Taormina.
Mount Etna is an active volcano – so we couldn’t go to the very summit but we visited a previously active area that had many cones and craters. Our guide was informative and interesting and educated us about the volcano and life in Sicily on our way.
Steam floating up from the volcano
Art and Cheryl with the volcano behind them.
Murray, Adam and Susan – getting ready for our trip to the volcano!
We had a yummy snack of a cannoli, shopped a bit for local items and climbed one of the craters.
Cannolis – yum!
Flavored liquors they had at the gift shop – some of them were pretty good – they let us try samples.
Map of the volcano area
Gift shop near the craters we explored.
Here are some photos of us exploring the craters and goofing off with our cameras…
We walked along the outside edge – but several people went down to the bottom and stacked rocks and took photos.
Adam on the edge of the crater – the view was beautiful – didn’t capture very well in this photo.
Several of the craters.
Then it was time to drive to the town of Taormina where we explored and shopped. Just as we had arrived, we ran into Bonnie and Steve who were rushing to meet their tour, as they had just finished visiting the area. We had Pizza and Arancini for snacks and explored the shops and architecture of the area.
It was fun to meet up with Bonnie and Steve while we were there!
We had a lunch/snack here – we tried the Arancini which are Italian snacks consisting of a ball of rice coated with bread crumbs and then deep fried—a staple of Sicilian cuisine.
A nice shot of the shopping area.
Some of the real-estate for sale or rent – we like to look at that when we travel.
It was very beautiful there – just a tad on the hot side.
Nice courtyard in the shopping area.
Beautiful view!
Lots of shops had their wares displayed on the small stairways.
An enchanting little alley-way that leads to more places to explore.
Some of the things that were for sale – lots of pottery and painted glass-ware.
More shopping!
I just liked the look of this balcony and all of their plants!
Adam enjoying his arancini (and a coke!)
The entry to Taormina’s shopping area.
After that we returned to the ship. That evening we all shared our adventures with one another and then went to the show “The Voice of the Ocean.” There were many very talented passengers who performed, we had a really fun time at that show. When we returned to our room, we discovered our disembarkation paperwork – booooo
Next: Naples, Italy (And the beautiful Amalfi coast!)