September 15, 2018 -Messina

September 15, 2018 – Messina, Sicily
Months ago, through cruisecritic.com, I arranged to join a tour by “SICILY BY MARIO”. We were supposed to moor outside Taormina but last month HAL changed the port to Messina. The tour company agreed to pick us up in Messina.
We drove an hour along the coast to Taormina and continued up to Castelmola. We spent 1/2 hour here taking pictures and walking through the small town. Castelmola is at the very top of the hillside with great views. On the way down to Taormina, we were slowed down by a large bus having trouble making the hairpin turns on the narrow road. Oncoming traffic seems to never backup so it took over an hour to get down.
,We had 2 hours in Taormina. There is a large Greek amphitheater and other ruins. I decided to start with lunch. I ordered a pizza with cherry tomatoes and grilled zucchini, an arugula salad, and red wine. The food was excellent and I enjoyed time eating and people-watching. After lunch I wandered around town until time to leave.
We ended the tour after visiting a church in Messina. Messina was destroyed in 1908 by an earthquake and damaged again during WWII bombing.
Before dinner there was a nice cocktail hour for 4- and 5-star Mariners. We got to meet the Captain, Cruise Director, and Hotel Manager.
September 16, 2018 – At Sea
We turned the clocks forward last night.
This morning was the Mariner Awards followed by the Mariner lunch. I was expecting to get my 300 day medallion. Only 2 100-day medallions were given out. I’ve talked to the front desk and they are checking with Seattle so that I get it on the 2nd leg of this cruise.
At 2pm they had a Wine tasting event. For one hour you could taste 10 different wines. There was an Italian red that we found exceptional so my table drank that one almost exclusively.
Tomorrow we are in Corfu, Greece.