Day 8, Messina, Italy

Another wow day today!!  We awoke to pleasant temperature of 29 C. That was positively delightful to sit on our Verandah as we were pulling into port around 6:15 am. Once I had access to wifi I reread my favourite cruising blogger to see how she and her husband travelled to Taormina from Messina. It was possible and involved a timely departure from the ship, catching a train and then a bus to get to Taormina. I presented this idea to the others at breakfast and they were all keen to try so that we might go visit the Greco-Roman Theatre. 

So we hurried up, finished breakfast, hustled back to our room and packed up to leave by 7:30 so that we could get to the train station to catch the 8 am train. We exited the port gates and immediately spotted a man with a sign to Taormina and JP asked did we want to consider a taxi?  We paused and he approached us to ask if we were interested. ME immediately started speaking in Spanish (close enough to Italian!) saying to make his pitch quickly because we had one minute to consider the offer and then were carrying on to the train station. 

His offer was a van ride to Taormina and back, with 2.5 hours waiting time for us in Taormina for 300€. He had room for 6 people - we saw another couple standing nearby and asked if they were interested too. Six of us meant the price was 50 € per person. Sold. That worked out to about $75 Canadian and far less headache and logistics than we thought would be involved with the day. 

We moved to his comfortable van and loaded in. Our drive was about 50 minutes to Taormina so we got comfortable and enjoyed the ride!  The couple who joined us were from Perth, Australia - and were just delightful. 

Jean Franco was happy to drop us off right at the gates to the old town in Taormina. We arrived about 8:40 am - and we were told the Greco-Roman Theatre opened at 9 am so we took the opportunity to walk the streets without crowds (but with delivery trucks instead!)

JP, me, ME and DG posing in front of the Taormina sign. 

So much quaint art to go along with the views!

We then headed towards the theatre where we paid the 13.5 € entry fee. It was amazing to see this colosseum that was used then destroyed around 450 AD. 

There are views from every angle - but it was particularly interesting to see Mount Etna so prominently evident. 

Mt Etna is the most active volcano in Europe. 




JP and I stayed as long as possible at the site while DG and ME went for a bit of shopping. 

We met our driver back at 11:00 outside the old town gate and started the return trip to Messina. 

We saw a beautiful viewpoint over a beach and it is below:

 

Our driver hurried back to the Messina town centre because JP asked about seeing the clock celebration that happens in noon at Messina. 

We decided to have lunch at a local cafe where we ate arancino (JP had anti pasta) and cannoli for lunch - two local specialties. 

I was lucky enough to find an elastic knee brace so I will have a little more support. For those well wishers asking about my knee - it seems to have improved the last two days. 

Once back on the ship I decided to do a load of laundry. It required visiting two different laundry rooms but I was pleased to dons an empty machine. Laundry was a popular activity at 3:30 today!

Dinner was surf and turf tonight. Delicious. 

We went to see the production show 5 skies - it was a highly technical production simulating a video game. Entertaining- but I preferred Rock Opera from a few nights ago. 

We watched a fun dance competition in the piazza after that!  Karaoke was the draw after that but I was losing steam and needed to type my blog. 

Tomorrow is a day at sea - so everybody can decide for themselves how busy they want to be!!