We've been revving on all cylinders for 3 days straight, disembarking all over Italy, racing to see the most famous sites within the tiny 8-hour window we have in each port. We're exhausted, but still have one more stop before a well-deserved rest day at sea. We pulled into the port of Messina (above) on the island of Sicily - at the boot's toe - early Wednesday morning.
Like the previous ports, we met our driver, Giovanni, at the end of the gangway after pushing our way past the obnoxious ship's photographers. Seriously, is there a difference between a gangway picture in Livorno (Pisa/Florence) and a gangway picture in Messina (Sicily)? Methinks not. Just another excuse to try and sell us a cheesy $30 8x10 photo.
Today's first stop is Mount Etna, one of Italy's three active volcanoes. We already paid a visit to the first (and most famous), Mount Vesuvius, yesterday. Giovanni noticed our groggy silence - did I mention we were tired? - and pretty much kept quiet for most of the drive, interjecting a random fact here and there in broken English. His accent was horrendous and we ended up just nodding in approval at everything he said just so he'd stop talking.
Having had her fill of beautiful countryside, Val decided to focus on Giovanni's speedometer as we hit 150 kph (93 mph). It's exciting watching the blurry roadway whiz by us. So what if we end up as a flaming ball of metal in one of the dozens of highway tunnels along the way.
Mount Etna is over 10,000 feet tall, so the winding drive up the side of the volcano took a while. Luckily, as we have for most of the trip, we beat the tourist groups to the top. With a private car and guide meeting us in each port, we've not had to wait for tour check-ins or bus delays like our fellow cruisers who booked excursions through the ship. Suckers!
Anyway, the road up the volcano was deserted, as was the restaurant we stopped at near the summit. Granted, it was well before 9:00 AM on a Wednesday morning. Above, I'm enjoying a delightful snack that you can only find in this region, a pistachio cream-filled croissant. Delicious. Though the filling sort of resembles baby diarrhea.
Since Etna and the surrounding region is known for its world-famous pistachios, Trish and I grabbed bottles of pistachio pesto and honey from the gift shop for some home consumption before heading out to check on the views. From 10,000 feet everything seems so tiny.
No, I did not take this picture for the car. If you look closely, you can see the ski lift way in the background. That's the only way to get all the way up to the active crater of Etna. We opted to hang back and admire the molten lava from afar (not to mention the lift tickets were damn expensive). All that black earth is volcanic soil.
This crater is no longer active, so we headed over for a closer look.
Here we are, at the lip of the crater above.
The sky is so blue! And I am so fat! No more pistachio croissants for Fausto!
Here's another little inactive crater. They are everywhere.
After exploring for a couple of hours, we headed back down the crater. We took a detour into this lovely vineyard for a panoramic view of Etna. It's so beautiful it almost looks fake, doesn't it? Next stop, Taormina, "The Godfather" City.
Dock in Port of Messina and meet driver - Giovanni
Drive along coast highway to Mount Etna
Explore dead craters
Drive to Taormina
Afternoon in Taormina
Previous day in Pompeii and Amalfi Coast
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