Messina, Sicily: Not gonna lie. Easter Monday is a big thing in Italy and nothing is open. Also, the Pope died this morning, so no one was out enjoying their day off. No pageants. No family picnics. Most of the things to see in Messina are churches and museums. All the museums were closed and only one church had open doors.
These facts did not stop us from covering five miles around the city. There were not many redeeming features, but I can't blame it on the town, the people, or even the Pope. It is what it is.
Our ship docked just after sunrise this morning. It was cold and hazy. We had a neighbor today - the Viking Sea sailed in after the Explora II docked and tied-up in front of us.
Sometimes we have our cabin television tuned to the bridge cam of the ship - especially if out at sea. Our breakfast tray is situated under the television, but please notice the domed plate on the right with a chocolate Easter bunny and egg mentioned yesterday. (Last evening, in our darkened cabin, I thought the Easter bunny was looking a little stale, but realized in the daylight he is just dusted with fine cocoa powder. Maybe I will have to eat his ears?)
There were hours-long bus tours offered by the cruiseline up to a viewpoint to see Mt. Etna which included a cable car ride. Happy we did not sign-up, as the cloud cover prevented the mountain from showing herself.
So we spent another day walking uphill in a Mediterranean port town.
The number one tourist attraction in Messina is an astronomical clock in the bell tower at the Cathedral of Messina, completed in 1933. The bell tower rings at the top of each hour with one clang for every hour, and one little ding on the other quarters. But at noon everyday, the clock chimes twelve times, then the different levels of the clock put-on a lively display.
The lion roars, the rooster crows, Jesus rises from the dead and assents to the next level, then his apostles parade before him. It is pretty fascinating and there is more stuff happening on other levels, but I am only one woman, fairly blind, and a terrible videographer.
NOTE: Also this morning, a few minutes after ten o'clock, lots of church bells were ringing and not in a rhythmic clang - they were ringing to announce the death of a Pope, which coincided with DT, looking up from the New York Times website to tell me the Pope had died.
The City of Messina has a lot of signs pointing visitors/tourists to different places of interest to visit, so we headed out to see what we could see and the first three points of interest were churches. And their doors were locked tight. One of them required climbing a series of about 200 steps unhill, only to meet a closed door. The second one required less steps, and it was also closed. As I said, not a good day to visit Messina, nor probably any largely-Catholic town.
But I did find a few interesting things:
Sicily has been described as the ball the boot of Italy kicks, as the island sits at the very tip of Southern Italy. The city of Messina is right where the boot would make impact. A ferry from Messina to the mainland of Italy takes 20 minutes. In the photo above, the mainland of Italy is the darker land on the right.
The ship kept the lunch buffet open later today to feed all the hungry passengers as they trickled in from their excursions and adventures. I'm sure you are tired of me rambling on about the quality of the foods, but it is also the variety. The cheese station usually offer 4-5 different cheeses daily, along with an every-changing selection of cured meats (99.9% pork), pickles, olives, dried fruits, nuts, etc., along with an impressive variety of breads/crackers, all baked on the ship.
Dave wanted pasta, so ordered his favorite spaghetti with garlic and olive oil (aglio olio). His appetizer was calamari and mussel ceviche served in a small sorbet-type dish. As soon as he saw my Red Snapper in chili sauce, grabbed a taste of that as well. I also had a green (side) salad, which today was arugula, pea shoots, sliced radish, shaved cucumber, edamame, and Kalamata olives in a walnut vinaigrette. Nothing basic at all.
(Square bell tower visible mid-left.)
While we were on our never-ending tour in Tunisia Saturday, we were accompanied on the bus by Explora representative Karen Worrell. Her job is to give informative talks on each port the ship visits on the night prior. The culture, history, food, ins-and-outs, how to get around, what to avoid, and what not to miss. Her talk tonight was in the ship's theater, but as Ms. Worrell was beginning, the Captain's evening announcement began. Each evening our (Italian) Captain tells of our sailing plan as we leave port. The Captain gives us the weather and winds situation, sunset/sunrise, the planned route, etc., and then tonight she paid a sweet tribute to the Pope, leaving us with one of her favorite quotes from Pope Francis.
During our Naples preview talk tonight, Ms. Worrell explained the timeline for the laying-in-state and funeral of Pope Francis and how these activities may cause changes in passenger excursion schedules. (This cruise is visiting Naples tomorrow and terminating in Rome on Wednesday. Most of the passengers are leaving the ship and heading off to their homes, or elsewhere. Many passengers are planning to remain in Rome for a few days of sightseeing, and maybe their visit to the Vatican will be cancelled due to funeral activities. (NOTE: Dave and I are remaining on the ship and will sail for another ten days back to Barcelona. If the services are on Friday, we will be in Valencia, Spain and maybe everything will be closed there as well?)
We will go with the flow and adapt as the Vatican goes through these interesting changes. (Hope you all watched Conclave.)
After our informative talk tonight (where they were serving champagne like it was water), we had dinner in the Fil Rouge dining room. Dave had more ceviche - scallop this time - and the very popular Dover sole. I tried the chicken consomme and the beef short rib. I rarely clean my plate, but I did tonight. Just two small short ribs (without bones), super tender. Just delicious.
Tomorrow we stop in Naples. We have been there before and we have also been to every excursion destination (Pompeii, Sorrento, Capri), so we are going to try to sample the most famous thing from Naples: pizza.
Until my next update, I remain, your contemplative correspondent.
LINKS:
Messina Tourism Office
Explora II
Current Ship Location