Messina and Stromboli

Today we were in Messina Sicily. We docked right in town so it was easy to walk I to town. We came to Sicily several years ago so we had seen all the major things to see such as Tariomina. So walked into Messina to see the Duomo and its fabulous clock. It only does its thing at noon so we wandered around but really, if you have been there before, there is not much else to see. So we went to the cafe by the clock and used wifi, had cokes, and eventually had another great pizza. If you have been to Italy, you know that the food is not expensive but if you sit to eat it or use a table, the charge is more than double. Still for us, it was worth it to sit and enjoy the scenery and people and free Internet while we waited for time for the clock. To me, this clock is the most impressive I have ever seen and we have seen a lot of moving clocks. The loin roars again and again and the cock crows and the disciples move around, a dove flies, music plays and it lasts almost 15 minutes. We enjoyed it as much this time as last time.
We came back to the ship and sat out on the deck as the weather is just fabulous. It was a wonderful, enjoyable afternoon. We ate dinner by the window as we left Messina at sunset. By eating early, we have gotten window seats almost every night. It has been nice.
The highlight came tonight when we sailed past Stromboli. Wow! The volcanic eruptions were pretty awesome! It was not as spectacular as Mt Etna was a few years ago when we went to the airport very early in the morning and it was a thing of beauty. But I am fascinated by volcanoes so seeing Stromboli spout at night was great. It is not constant so we had to wait and watch like you do with fireworks but our patience was rewarded. The maitre d' had told us that at night you could not see much, so we were pleasantly surprised.


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