Hotel Federico Ii Messina

... images section on their homepage. I'm stoked!

But here's the thing I think is coolest. (See photo to the left.) I assumed most of these countries were highlighted because I've been meeting fellow travelers, but then I realized there are some countries here where I haven't met people from. Which means random people in random parts of the ...

... for me. But then I rang and rang and rang and rang and nothing. A little bakery backs up to the alley of the building. Two guys came out on their balcony and said (or at least I think they said, in Italian) "Bang on the door! Ring all the bells! Knock louder!" I told them that I had and then repeated my actions for them to see. They grabbed a cordless phone and the younger regazzo came down to dial the phone number of Gianni. (I was staying at Gianni House.) Anyway, apparently because ...

... of Stardust, in the Princess Theatre, was a fantastic show, with great choreography, costumes and stage production. Well worth watching!

The 50's Rock'n Roll Dance Party continued after the Stardust production. It was an opportunity to practice some jive and work off some of those calories we gathered throughout the day.

Tomorrow, it's the Greek Island of Mykonos! Ciao! Rick & Elsie!

... strasse und liess uns in den block. Dort hat er offenbar eine ganze etage gemietet und als möchte-gern-hostal eingerichtet….wir waren und blieben die einzigen gäste, 4tage lang! Allein in einer zwar sauberen, aber komisch anmutenden wohnung. Der typ war zwar hilfsbereit, aber in einer weise, die eher aufdringlich war....und auf jede Frage oder Feststellung antwortete er mit "ye-ye-ye". ;-) Naja J

Zu essen kriegte man in diesem kaff nichts.wirklich nichts. Nur ein ...

A lovely quaint very old area. Stayed in a lovely hotel with great attentive staff would recommend it to any couple looking for a romantic break or second honeymoon. Just off the main shopping street of Corso Umberto but found that the shopping was over priced so don't go expecting any bargains.

... an emotional bunch. In fact, they pride themselves on their emotions, their passion.

This emotional bent is also apparent by the many idols – statues of Mary, churches, looming dominance of God, crosses nearly everywhere you look. A sign of devotion as part of the Italian Culture.

Refugio

We stayed at a Refuge on Mount Etna – menu scant.

Today, after a day at sea, we pulled into Messina Sicily. It was also the first excursion we took through the ship. It was a trip up to the active volcano of Mt Edna. Though not as active as the ones in Hawaii, it still impressive. It was a long bus trip and cable car ride up the top and then 4*4 drive and a hike to the top. We took alot of pictures and will post them once we return home. It was a very different looking place with all the land scape almost brand new as the last big ...

We had no excursions or ports to stop at on our way back to Italy. We woke up earlier than we thought because we forgot we had to set out our clocks back since we crossed over to Italy. Last night's party was very nice to compliment a great day at beautiful Santorini. Today we are just going to chill at the pool and soak up some rays. I kinda messed up my tan because I used an aerosol can and only my right hand to spray it. I missed a large area and now ...

... of you in line. The Greeks that we had cause to speak to were very polite and nice, but the regular guy on the street would avoid contact. In Italy we've actually had a gentleman hold a gate open for us. Driving also has been so different in the three countries. In Turkey we tried to figure out the driving rules, but decided there weren't any. In Greece we had to dodge the motorcycles as they came barreling towards us on the sidewalks. Don't get me ...

... plannen. We bekijken Sicilie wel op de terugweg. 's Ochtends zien we op de kade in iedereen een Simrad reparateur. Uiteindelijk blijken twee heren met een grote koffer, de mensen van Simrad te zijn. Ze komen direct naar ons bootje en willen aan boord komen om alles los te gaan halen, maar dan geef ik hun de stuurautomaat die allang los zit en moeten ze wel lachen dat ze helemaal naar de haven zijn gekomen om een losneembaar apparaat op te gaan halen ...