Caesar Palace Hotel Giardini Naxos

... it was a bit cloudy and overcast and we couldn't see the peak - probably a good decision to not do the tour as well...
Catania is a nice quaint quiet town and wouldbe lovely in summer.


Caught the 10pm overnight train to Rome with Laura.
Overnight trains in Italy are definitely a lot more sketchy than in Germany.

Today was a sea day. I shall attempt to tell you how we spend these wonderfully relaxing days, doing nothing...
I usually awaken early, 5:00 or 6:00am at the latest. Today, Jim beat me to it. He had a pilates class at 8:00am and woke me. After he left for the class, I showered and dressed. I love the bath products in our stateroom. The shower gel has a strong peppermint fragrance, sure to get your eyes open quickly. That, and the good shower pressure ...

Sometimes I let myself wonder, not always a good thing but regardless an effort I must make. I wonder if things are going to feel different when I get home, if I will view things in a different way. I have already made some discoveries about the differences between Italy and Canada that I love, and like, and don't feel all that warm and fuzzy about, and no matter what it leads me towards, I always seem to come back to the same ...

... For me, it is not a destination that inspires a return visit like Rome or Paris. The real appeal in Greece is the islands.

Rhodes
I enjoy Rhodes and it does have stunning historical attractions. Some beautiful beaches, good food and good beer has a lot to recommend it too. It does struggle at times with crowds when as many as 5 ships hit the port at once. It can only really handle one or two at a time and ...

I just checked out my 'stats' section and I'm quite pleased with my little blog and how much people are enjoying reading about my travels. I have over 20 5-star ratings and over 2,000 viewings. That is so incredibly awesome!

Apparently my photos are also not so bad. Travelpod has selected almost a dozen of them to be included in the daily ...

... kind of think I've perfected it. Anyway, in Italy, it does niente! An old man at the railway station stared at me the entire way I walked toward him and I could feel his eyes on me the entire time I walked away. When I realized that I couldn't get out where I thought I could (this trip really is exposing my unknown flaw of a horrible sense of direction) he watched me walk the entire way back. And he wasn't a dirty, old man. He was just a grampa. Just an old guy. But that's the Italian way ...

... br>B&B Massimo, ha una lunga tradizione di
ospitalità e accoglienza, che ha reso la nostra struttura B&B, tra
le più affidabili della città. Veniteci a trovare, per prenotazioni o
maggiori informazioni, compilate il form nella sezione contattaci.
I nostri servizi: Parcheggio e prima colazione
le nostre stanze Ampie, spaziose, dai colori caldi
e gradevoli, parquet ...

... cyclist himself, Rick deciding to take a spin (cycle) class at 9am while Elsie deciding to walk the treadmill to speeds and inclines that it hadn't seen before (not really)! But, with an ipod full of Rick's rock'n music and a million dollar view out of the bow of the ship, walking the treadmill was definitely not boring!

Nathan, a South African instructor, led Rick's spin class. Although ...

... immer etc....all das nervt mit der zeit ziemlich.
hinzu kam, dass die temperaturen immer heisser wurden und man nach ganztages-ausflügen jeweils recht kaputt und überhitzt zurückkam.... ein trost war, dass die sizilianer fast noch am meisten stönten ab der hitze. da fühlte man sich wenigstens nicht als nord-weichei ;-).....am mittag arbeitet dort ja sowieso fast niemand wegen der hitze.




wir freuten uns also auf syracusa und ein bisschen ausspannen danach....

After a relaxing day at sea we arrived in the port of Messina, Sicily at 1pm. We sailed past the famous statue that was the last image Tim's grandparents saw as they immigrated to America. This town was double hit during WW ll. Both sides bombed it to make the port unusable by the other.

Our guide, Giacomo, met us and we drove to ...