September 15 – Messina, Sicily

Today marked the first of 6 straight days with a 6:15am wake up time. Boooo! On the bright side, it was beautiful to watch us sail into Messina while I ate breakfast on Lido. 

We arranged a private tour with 8 of our friends from Cruise Critic, and we all met down in the lobby at 7:45 to walk off the ship together. Our guide, Antonio, was waiting outside the port area with our 8-person van (2 people sat up front with Antonio, and there were two 3-person rows behind that). Antonio gave us small bits of information during the drive, but he was not nearly as informative as our guides had been in Athens and Turkey.

We drove for about an hour down the coast to a scenic view point on the water. I think Antonio said this was where the Greeks first settled when they came to Italy.

Notice the black rocks from the volcanic ash…

Our next stop was a park called Gole Alcantara to see the views and waterfalls.

On the same grounds, they set up a little store which offered free samples of olive oil, spreads, wines, and liquors. It was fun to taste all the different flavors, and of course you could also purchase the products if you wished.

Next, we visited an old abandoned church on the countryside.

Behind the church, Antonio lead us on a short walk out to the river and to see another waterfall. 

Out in the distance, we saw a little surprise wagging his tail!

We decided to walk a little further to see the cow up close…

On the walk back, we sampled some of the figs and grapes growing on the trees…

Next, we drove to the quaint old town of Castiglione. It was a Sunday morning, so the town was mostly deserted except for a group of about 10 men sitting together outside (Antonio said their wives were all inside cooking!). We walked around the town for a little while, and then headed up the hill to explore an old castle.

The pacing of the day seemed a bit weird to me because that was all we did by 11:30am, but we still had a lot to do on our itinerary. It almost seemed like Antonio was stretching out our stops so we would arrive at the right time for lunch.

We drove up a steep, curvy mountainside road to our next stop, the Gambino Winery.

The winery was very pretty and offered beautiful views. Apparently, they recently renovated their tasting room and just opened it one week before we arrived!

For 20 Euros each, they had a wine tasting with 1 white wine and 3 red wines, and lunch including breads, cheeses, salami, olives, sundried tomatoes, mushrooms, and sausage. The food was served on large platters and they continuously refilled as we needed more. Everything was incredibly delicious and fresh!

Here was the wine list and shipping prices in case anyone wanted to purchase a bottle:

The food and wine were all very tasty, and we stayed at the winery for an hour and a half. Remember how I mentioned my mom’s food allergies? Well they did something very nice to take care of her… When we first arrived, my mom spoke to them about her allergies and they said that they would prepare a separate platter for her with things that were safe for her to eat. They brought her a few types of cheese, salami, and her own plate of sausage, so she basically ate the same thing as everyone else, but it was plattered separately to avoid cross-contamination from the items that she was allergic to. When she went to pay, they told her they were not charging for her meal because “She didn’t eat anything” That was far from true, as they gave her many options and she definitely ate her share of food, but they refused to let her pay! She ended up leaving her 20 Euros as a tip because they took such good care of her haha

After lunch, we piled back in the van and drove to Taormina. Antonio gave us 1 hour to shop, and suggested 2 good canoli shops (since canolis were invented in Sicily, so of course we all wanted to try one!) When I researched Taormina prior to the cruise, I had read about a Greek amphitheater which was supposed to be beautiful and worth a visit. I never ended up finding it (oh well!), but other on my tour said that it was crowded and cost 8 Euros to enter, so I guess I didn’t miss much. I spent my time enjoying the ambiance of the town, looking at the lava rock and Godfather souvenirs, and eating a delicious canoli.

Godfather stuff everywhere!

Lots of souvenirs made from volcanic rock:

We got back to the pier by 4pm for our 4:30pm all aboard time, and got showered and ready for dinner.

My cold was now hitting me with full force, so it was convenient that the MDR offered chicken soup on tonight’s menu!

I also shared Oysters Rockerfeller with my mom:

Petite Fillet Mignon and Braised Short Ribs

One of the couples at our table were going to celebrate their anniversary on Tuesday. That was the day we were going to Rome, and none of us knew if we’d get back to the ship in time for dinner (the one night when the 6pm dinnertime wouldn’t mix well with our 8pm all aboard time!), so we ordered them a cake for tonight to celebrate. They were very surprised!

They cut up the cake for everyone to have a piece

But I also wanted a dessert from the menu… Diet Apple Pie!

Tonight’s entertainment was Niels Dunger, Comedy Juggler. He was okay, but I’ve seen better on previous cruises. He dropped things a few times, and he wasn’t very funny. After that, I went to bed early again to try and fight off my cold and rest up for tomorrow in Naples!