Messina, Sicily

We have sailed by Sicily two times before, but never stopped. If nothing else, it was nice to at least stop this time. All I know about Sicily is the Mafia and The Godfather movie. Another chance to break down preconceived impressions!

We are only in port from 7am to 2pm, so we have a quick tour and we’re back to the ship to leave. The tour we chose was a trip to nearby Taormina. It is a small city up on a hill or cliff, right on the coast. I think it is a popular summer resort town and it is surrounded by nice looking beaches, even though it is located way up high on a cliff. It is also a “1000 Places to see before you die” site.

The main sight in town was an old amphitheater built by the Greeks and the Romans. It was a beautiful amphitheater, but the real sight was Mount Etna, right behind it. It is usually covered by clouds (we have never seen it before). But there is was! Cloudless—but covered with snow! Even our tour guide was very excited to be able to see it.

A quick walk about the town and we headed back to the ship. We sailed through the strait of Messina around 2:00 pm and discussed the ongoing battle for a bridge between Sicily and mainland Italy. The last battle took place in 2006 and the bridge was put on hold again. Most people agree that the “bridge” will never be built in this lifetime (the distance between the narrowest parts is less than 2 miles).

A few hours later we sailed by Stromboli, a still active volcano. Since it was daylight and since it hasn’t exploded since 2002, we couldn’t see any sparks or lava flow. But it was very interesting to see up close. Some 500 people live on the island even though it explodes on a regular basis.

We are leaving the Noordam tomorrow morning early. It has been a great home away from home and a wonderful trip. Friends we have met are having their driver drop us off at the train station to save us the mile walk to the station pulling our suitcases. We are planning to check into our hotel, drop off our suitcases and head out to the Vatican, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. Rumor has it that the Pope always blesses the faithful on Wednesday morning so we might have to rearrange our schedule since St. Peter’s will be closed. It would be nice to be in the square though and see this religious event.

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