(Day 9) Leave the Gun. Take the Cannolis.

Welcome to Sicily! I didn’t know what to expect when we arrived…maybe more Italy? That seems reasonable, and it would be entirely true if it weren’t so damn tropical there. When we docked in Messina, I was surprised at how much it reminded me of Mexico. And the heat! Oh my gosh. I looked pretty silly – I packed high boots, long-sleeves, jackets, layers…why didn’t I get the memo? Oh Italy, you so crazy.

There had been a landslide in Messina just a few days prior to our arrival and several lives of locals had been lost. Our day in port was the memorial and funerals for these people and so Messina was, for all intents and purposes, closed for several hours before and after siesta. We hadn’t planned to hang around in town anyways and boarded our bus for a ride down to the city at the foot of Mount Etna, Taormina. But first, let’s leave Messina behind.




See? Italians park anywhere. The median on the road is totally fair game.




What do you think? Mexico-ish?

Soon we were whizzing past the sea and up into the hills…








Europe’s greatest natural wonder, Mount Etna. This beauty is two and a half times the height of Mount Vesuvius, the volcano we climbed in Naples.

Taormina was an adorably charming town which was at its most enchanting when we arrived early in the morning and the town wasn’t bogged with tourists yet. Some fun facts for you: The towns that surrounded Taormina was where they filmed the Godfather! Also, Elizabeth Taylor liked to vacation in Taormina with one of her many husbands, Richard Burton. The geris gobble up this information.









Our tour was to visit the town and explore the greek theatre that was built there back when…well, the greeks were there. I suck at history.



The view from here was majestic, to say the least.






Party people





It was so sweaty hot and clmbing to those altitudes was more than just a little bit of work. Once in the theatre though, we received a nice long lecture from our tour guide about the meaning of life and becoming one with the universe or something. He was so full of it that people randomly started just walking away during his schpiel. I generally found that the Italian male tour guides like to wax poetic about various philosophies and things just generally beyond your average hard-working American’s vacation thought process. Or maybe it was just me.

Here are some panoramics (click to enlarge!):







After the tour, we had some free time to explore the town before bussing it back to Messina. Taormina was now jammed with an obscene number of tourists so weaving through the geri crowds just made me sweatier. Perfect.








The lady with three legs coming out of her head is the symbol of Taormina. I think the lion head is the symbol for Sicily.



Taormina was all kinds of picturesque…this is how I imagined Italy.


































This is the terrace at the entrance to the town.


This is the drop off that terrace! Yikes.

When doing research on Sicily before the trip, cannolis were name-dropped by nearly everyone AND their dog. This naturally piqued my curiosity and so I decided that I’d try my first cannoli in Sicily , their home and native land.


Three euros later, my tummy is filled with ricotta cheese and pastry. I was expecting something sweet, but it wasn’t…really. I think I’ve been somewhat disappointed with the native foods here, but that’s to be expected.

After our tour group re-congregated, we made our way back to the buses and I got harsh geri-ed. (Getting “geri-ed” means that I got stuck behind some slow-moving geris, when you thought they were moving faster than they were. It’s a negative.) Since we were moving so slowly, I decided to a shot of her oh-so-precious t-shirt. (Click to enlarge to read!)



I want one.

I think we all slept during the ride home since the hot sun just wiped us out. Once we got back, we dragged our asses into the shower again and then out for some food to get our energy up. I had a très delicious grilled cheese sandwich.



After lunch, Marty wanted a nap, so Grant, Rachel and I headed out to explore the little bit of Messina that was closeby. Sure enough, the town was pretty much on lockdown, but we made do with the resources at hand. I had seen a little park a few blocks away from the dock when we were driving out of the city, so it was my quest to find it.








Parking during non-siesta hours will cost you. How do I implement siesta in Canada?

After a bit of weaving, I found the little park!



It also had a grotto; give it up for playboy-styles. (Though I’m sure the Italians had grottos long before the Playboy Mansion did.)




A small army of kiddy rides.






Grant giving me a serious, “What the hell…? Ha…ha?” kind of look.









Ah, we we’re back home. There’s really no place like it. If I were to describe it, it’s like a little piece of American soil floating around Europe. I only say American because 95 percent of the boat was. I don’t mind though….really.

Messina, from the upper decks of our ship, actually looked a lot nicer from further away than up close. Kind of like people at the bar. Let’s enjoy her for what she’s worth.






I’m wearing long pants in the heat. I be crazy.


Some boat peoples working their thang. (I love italics.)

Out of port we go!




Bye!

It’s always nice to come back to you room and there is a new friend waiting for you.



We also had some other goods waiting:



We are like VIP’s! No big deal. Us and three-quarters of the boat.

Thus concludes another day on this hectic journey…(and I’m actually getting these blogs done! HOORAY!) Only a few more stops and we’ll find ourselves once again in Rome. I hope you are enjoying traveling along with me so far and I hope to hear from a few more of you if you are reading. I’m having fun so far! This tri p really is a Dream (pun totally intended.)

See you tomorrow for another riveting (not) day at sea! I’ll have like, nothing to say, but I’ll try to scrounge up something. Barcelona is very soon…and I’ll have too many words. Enjoy the drought while it lasts!