Saturday – May 19, 2018
It was a quiet and calm night cruising south along the western coast of Italy, quite unlike crossing the Atlantic.
The ship gently crossed the Strait of Messina between the mainland of Italy and the triangle-shaped island of Sicily. A French philosopher called Sicily “the land of gods and heroes.” Messina, which is the third largest city on the island, was founded by Greek colonists in the eighth century BC. However, “Sicily has been shaped for over 30 centuries by invaders from Africa, Asia, Arabia, and Europe.
We arrived in the port city of Messina about ten o’clock and the huge ship made a spectacular 180 degree turn in the small protected harbor. Jeff and I enjoyed a pleasant breakfast in the Blu Dining Room and talked briefly with our table mates from Australia, London and Germany. Then we mustered in the huge theater of the ship and left the Reflection to visit the mountain-top town of Taormina. Our bus wound its way up along hairpin turns to a 7-story garage near the summit where we were set free to explore on our own.
Taormina is a charming village perched on a cliff overlooking the Ionian Sea with an excellent view of the dormant volcano, Mt. Etna. The old town was built 820 feet above the sea and is easily explored via the main pedestrian walkway, the Corso Umberto.
Taormina is popular among cruise ship passengers and I think we filled the tiny village today! There were many restaurants, gelaterias, enotecas, and high-end tourist shops. Jeff has a cold so we explored the town slowly and opted not to visit the 3rd century BC Greek theatre.
On our way back to the bus, we stopped for genuine Sicilian cannolis. They were the best cannolis ever!!! I also wanted an iced coffee so the server brought two “granitas.” Sweet icy and delicious!
A few hours later we were back onboard the ship. Jeff rested in our stateroom and I relaxed on the 14th floor near one of the pools. Visiting Taormina was fun. It’s a lovely village with an ancient past but too many tourists today.
