Messina, Italy

            The Straight of Messina is beautiful. We sail through the colorful blue waters just inside the Straight – the buildings lining the banks of the mountains, on both sides, are stunning. I hope the pictures capture the beauty of it all.

            For Debbie and I breakfast is in the dining room – we were seated with an older couple from Japan (Keikei and Cisco, who live in Okinawa) and three Chinese (a father and two daughters who now live in Sweden); the two Chinese Swedish girls were age 15 and 12, Alley and Sophie respectively. Three others, perhaps from South America were non-communicative and distance; they left early and never spoke or looked at anyone. I think they were Nazi’s living in Paraguay (no judgment here).

            As we leave the dining room, Debbie says, “There’s Ray.” We walk over to the table, and although I don’t see Ray at all, she puts her arm around a man and says loudly, “Where’s Mom?” When he turns around and she sees he is not her father, she departs quickly, very embarrassed. I walk out laughing.

            Messina is a bit disappointing. The cost of a taxi to Taormina, a beautiful hillside town 30 miles from the port was going to be 120 euros ($180), so we passed. Instead we roomed around Messina finding two outdoor café’s with free WiFi (albeit very slow). The mid-70 degree weather and blue sky made our stroll pleasant, and while held for ransom by a waiter who wanted two extra euros as a second tip for his service (which I eventually paid at Debbie’s urging), it was a good time. I had the feeling that had I not coughed up the two euros, the guy would have had his Godfather snuff us out – after all, this is Sicily. Our second outdoor café was definitely less touristy and more local. The smoke was stifling, but the patrons colorful. We love the expressive behaviors and conversations of Italians – the gestures along with the accentuated and demonstrative words make me smile and enjoy the interactions free of pretense. They hold nothing back.

            At $7 a gallon of gasoline, motorcycles are ubiquitous, and loud. On occasion we see a large automobile but it seems very much out of place.  Most cars are the size of “smart” cars or Prius-like vehicles. When we share that gasoline is approximately $3.00 a gallon where we live, they are astounded. Oh yes, sirens on emergency vans can be so piercing. Often I think American cities are filled with excessive noise, honking horns, loud trucks, and more; but Italian cities do indeed exceed the USA in this regard. So, both vehicles and people are excessive in their expressions.

            At dinner, the sharing of highlights was particularly stimulating. The younger travelers (Brian, Angela, Justin and Becca) went on a tour into the wine country to a vineyard “Barone di Villagrande,” located on the slopes of Mt. Etna. On the way they stopped at the charming, romantic town overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, Taormina, the same place that Debbie and I were unsuccessful in finding adequate transportation to get there. Well, it would have been well worth the expense as the four of them gushed about the views and quaint little businesses and architecture. It was so wonderful, they all complained that they were given only 40 minutes there; not nearly enough time to take it all in. Nevertheless, further along their tour they stopped at a lava flow from the still active volcano; Justin brought back a lava rock for my collection, a heavy but small thing that I extremely appreciated. The vineyard itself had stunning views of the sea and wine produced from the hillside grapes was stored in 200-year old barrels made of chestnut.

            On the tour Brian evidently had everyone on the bus busting their guts laughing as he replied to a comment by the guide that one of the sheep (or perhaps it was a goat) grazing on the mountainside had only one horn. To that, Brian loudly exclaimed, “I guess he is not as horny as the others!”  What fun.

            Becca was, however, ridiculed for always being the last one to board the bus, sometimes holding the passengers hostage. She said she got her best pictures once all the people were out of the way; sounds like an intelligent move to me.

            Ray and Monica share their enjoyment at the theater the previous night – they described the contortionists as people without bones who could twist their bodies in unimaginable positions. The rest of us were sorry we missed it. The funniest thing, however, was Monica’s remarks that went on and on about how their cabin steward had put Halloween decorations on their cabin door. She even explained that the steward had personally signed them. To this, Debbie, who had put up the decorations not only on their door but also on each couple’s door, could no longer hold back her laughter. The signature was something she had written and everyone rolled in laughter at Monica’s expense.

            Monica did, however, get the last laugh later in the evening, and at my expense, by beating me a round of chess. I have not told her yet that immediately afterward I returned to my cabin and puked my guts out. I’m sure she will claim it was due to her decisive victory, but it looked more like both dinner and lunch combined. I did not fully recover until noon the next day. Ray reported that he enjoyed a ship movie, “Moma Mia.” Both he and Monica loved the classic film and they had plenty of privacy; they were the only ones in attendance.

            Brian’s highlight was again observing, identifying, and describing the foliage on the slopes of Mt. Etna. The others listened in awe as he was able to explain the etiology of each. Angela loved their tour guide (we will call him Quido) who talked a thousand words a minute with hilarious interjections. Debbie’s highlight was finally completing the posting of yesterday’s blog at the outdoor cafes in downtown Messina; the internet while obtained from free WiFi, was a very slow process. I enjoyed the locals while we waited for it to do its thing. And finally, Becca purchased some honey for Andrew and Jessica at the vineyard (sorry for giving away the surprise guys).

            We capped off the evening (that is, prior to my upchucking my stomach) by playing the “Hand & Boot” card game that Brian and I won handedly over Angela and Debbie. After my defeat at chess at the hands of Monica, Justin and Becca showed up to continue another round of the card game. All of this in a delightfully arranged card room on the 14^th deck.

            Tomorrow is a sea day. Time to kick back and relax, go to the spa, walk the deck, and attend various shipboard activities.