MAR-28: Messina, Italy

ROTTERDAM entered the port of Messina at sunrise.  Messina is the port in Sicily closest to the Italian mainland.  For this reason a lot of ferries operate out of this port.

Tour Description:  Castelmota & Taormina

Pass Messina's Viale Boccetta and Immacolata Church, then travel by freeway to Taormina, about 31 miles away. The road is a gravity-defying series of tunnels and switchbacks. Taormina is situated high on Mount Tauro, overlooking the calm Ionian Sea, with a delightful medieval character and many interesting shops. The town dates back to AD 39. On your walking tour of Taormina, admire Palazzo Corvaja and the impressive Greco-Roman theater built by the Greeks in the 3rd century BC and later renovated by the Romans. Renowned for its unique acoustics, it is still used for open-air performances. Stroll the Corso Umberto, a mostly pedestrian street, where shops beckon you to explore.

Tour Experience

We were off the ship and on the bus early.  Our first destination was Castelmota.  In the seventy-five minutes it took to get there the bus went through over 40 tunnels and across more than 70 bridges.  The driver earned his pay navigating the bus through numerous hairpin turns as we wound our way up the side of the mountain to Castelmota. 

We found Castelmota picturesque.  The village looks down on Taormina and across at snow-capped Mt. Etna, the biggest and most active volcano in Europe.  According to our guide, Castelmota is off the beaten path for the majority of tourists.  Note the smoke from the volcano in the upper left quadrant of the picture.

We certainly seemed to be the only visitors there.  We walked around the narrow roads.  Perched on a mountain top, all the streets seemed to angle either up or down.  Everywhere there were staircases.  Before getting back on the bus we sat in a small piazza drinking an espresso.  It was a pleasant moment.

Retracing our path through the switchbacks, we descended the mountain as far as Taormina.  Taormina was most definitely a tourist magnet.  Nevertheless, we found it interesting.  Although the main street was a flat walk, all the streets and alleys feeding off it were a modestly steep incline or decline.  It offered views of Mt. Etna.  It had an impressive theater originally constructed by the Greeks and later modified by the Romans.  Around the town we saw Easter Sunday decorations.  We walked through the botanical garden on our way to lunch.

After lunch it was back on the bus to return to the ship. 

ROTTERDAM departed Messina for Naples.  We sailed past Reggio di Calabria and after disembarking the pilot entered the Tyrrhenian Sea.

About 2030 local time we passed within a nautical mile of Strombolli.  Since it was well after sunset, the only illumination we had for seeing this active volcano was a full moon.  We saw several significant jets of magma.  It was an impressive sight of which I have no record.  A clear time exposure picture taken at night from a moving, vibrating ship was beyond my photographic skill.