Blogs from Messina, Sicily, Italy, Europe

Geo: 38.1922, 15.5566As we awake Reflection is situated about 5 miles off the sea east coast of the volcanic island of Stromboli. After Etna and Vesuvius she is the third of Italy's three active volcanoes. Today she is shrouded in cloud and so we cannot see much of her. Reflection continues southward towards the straits of Messina. As we approach we see two small boats with some men shouting very loudly. Someone is swimming the straits from Sicily to mainland Italy. It's only three miles so hardly compares with the English Channel but am sure it's a challenge nonetheless. We dock in the busy port shortly after 10am and not longer after guests are pouring out from Reflection to meet their tours guides. We know that many of the most popular tours to Taormina have been ... read more

With our usual luck, we found our way to every place we wanted to go, starting with buying a map, which we didn't need to use since the kiosk person directed us to the cathedral and told us when the clock tower was scheduled to do its mechanical show. On the way, we found a store to buy most of the items on our shopping list, all except a pen, a watch, and a scarf. We stumbled upon those a little later, still without the use of the map. After the cathedral we went to the train station to buy tickest for tomorrow for Palermo. Next to the train station, we found a bus office and bought bus tickets since that was our preference anyway. ... read more

MESSINA Saturday 2nd May 2015 Another glorious day as we sailed into the city of Messina which is the third largest of Sicily. Most of our cruisers were departing for tours towards Taormina and Mount Etna, so a leisurely breakfast was order of the day. We were just going to walk the city. Messina was flattened by an earthquake in 1908 and whilst it has little industry the harbour is always busy with up to 60 ferries a day crossing to mainland Italy. One of its major attractions which survived and has been enhanced is the Duomo, a 12th century church and campanile. We headed here for 12 noon because the campanile holds one of the largest clocks in the world with an astronomical side and a series of figures hitch perform tricks every day much ... read more

Geo: 38.1922, 15.5566This morning we docked by Messina, on the island of Sicily. Today was to be our last organized tour with Carnival cruises. It was to be the cheapest and simplest of tours, but a worthwhile and enjoyable one to Mount Edna, the tallest active volcano in Europe. We set off at around 8.30am, on a good two hour drive. We first were pointed out some sights of Messina before getting out on the freeway. After the disappointment of yesterday, I enjoyed todays pretty drive, touring the scenic Sicilian countryside. It was at least as pretty as Tuscany, if not more so. The drive took us along the coastline, through tunnels and small villages to the base of Mount Edna. Our experience here was far superior to yesterdays Mount Vesuvius. There was plenty of volcanic ... read more

Geo: 38.1922, 15.5566May 7th was an at sea day as we cruised from Piraeus to Messina. I caught up with mundane chores like undie washing. However, at 2pm we attended a Premium Wine Tasting in the Pinnacle bar. We started with a Moet and Chandon sparkling which was very nice and then were given a French Chablis and a Californian Chardonnay. Surprisingly, the Chardonnay was far superior with more flavour and freshness. We then had two Reds, a French Pinot Noir and a Californian Cab Sav. Both were excellent. Fernando, the Sommelier on board took us through the wines commenting on colour, flavour etc We also had small portions of food to see which went best with each wine. The finish was a 6 grapes Port. A pleasant hour or so spent tasting nice wine.At 6pm ... read more