Fall Break - Mt. Etna and Messina, Sicily

Thursday - October 30, 2014
Fourth stop - Mt. Etna and Messina, Sicily...

Since the first three stops were old cities in Slovenia and Croatia, Mt. Etna was to be a change of pace.  Unfortunately it is a two hour bus ride from port to Mt. Etna after a day at sea with three girls who all felt a little seasick.

Our guide, a former teacher, was entertaining and full of interesting information about Sicily and Mt. Etna... however, he was very strict.  Someone asked a question to which he replied 'I already told you that'.  He also liked to be punctual and was upset when the last person to the bus was two minutes late. When I asked for a bathroom stop he replied 'if you had asked 10 minutes ago'... so when Gabby wanted me to ask how many minutes until we got back to the ship I told her 'no way I'm asking!'

On average there are only 22 rainy days in Sicily making it a good climate for growing citrus (lemons, oranges, tangerines).  Apparently Sicilian lemons are used for French perfume. Unfortunately it also means there is a severe water shortage for the locals. Buildings we saw had small water tanks on their roofs which our guide said supplied about an hour of water per day.

In addition to agriculture, Sicilian economics depend on fishing and tourism. There is a Godfather tour available for fans of the movie series.  According to our guide the mafia started in Sicily where the attitude is 'don't watch, not my problem, it's their problem'. Another popular day trip is Taormina, an hour from Messina, the most popular and biggest tourist destination in Sicily. 

Sicilian flag

To say that Sicilians are proud of their heritage is an understatement.  Our guide talked with an 'us or them' attitude.  He made a point of letting  us know there is only 3km between mainland Italy and Sicily, but there will never be a bridge built to connect them. My favorite explanation is the reason Sicilians gesticulate so animatedly while they talk is that Sicily has been ruled by many different countries/cultures/languages over the centuries and that is how they could communicate effectively.  So we have Sicily to thank for the origin of the meaning of the middle finger!

our first glimpse of Mt. Etna

Mt. Etna - 
Messina was completely destroyed in the 1908 earthquake and has since been rebuilt with reinforced concrete... a good idea with the world's oldest, active volcano in the backyard. 

Basic Mt. Etna information -

• 7 eruptions this year, last eruption 4 weeks before we were there
• 4 main craters at top
• 212 km base circumference
• 100 years for lava to be fertile
• Mt. Etna is 10,000 feet high
• the very top of Mt. Etna is no longer accessible to tourists after several died during an eruption in the 1970s

there is a cable car that goes from this point a little higher up Mt. Etna but we didn't have time for that

Silvestri crater on the south side of Mt. Etna

Silvestri crater

luckily Sofia survived the trip, the night before she was lamenting about her young life being cut short because due to a volcanic eruption!

coffee shop surrounded by lava flow - where we had the best pistachio liqueur and pistachio spread

the jump shot

the little speck on the top right is a person on top of the hill

Sofia's accessories

a peaceful ride back

After Mt. Etna we had enough time to unload coats and souvenirs at the ship then wander into Messina for lunch and free wi-fi.  We found a restaurant on what appeared to be the only charming piazza in Messina... to be fair we didn't have time to really explore!

Fountain of Orion - 1547

Cathedral of Messina

cannolis!

This ship, docked behind ours, carried 500 Syria refugees to Messina where they at least receive medical care at tents set up dockside. Our guide said ships arrive daily filled with refugees who will eventually make their way to Sweden. 

patron saint welcoming visitors, protecting the harbor

goodbye Messina