Hotel Za Maria Messina

... lounges. All at the bow of the ship with floor to ceiling glass windows overlooking the turquise sea. Aaaahhh.
We sailed through the Straights of Medina yesterday, between Sicily and the toe of Italy. We passed the Isle of Stromboli, which is a huge perfect cone of an active volcano, spewing smoke from the top and a fumarole just above the small town. I wonder who would choose to live there? Must have gotten the short straw.
Last night we ate ...

... weather wasn’t responsible for deterring me so much. But I will never know. All I know is that now, I am ready to go. I have, I believe experienced a part of Italy that will always be mine. I will always have it with me, whether I wake up tomorrow, or the day I get home with a different face or not, I did live it, I breathed it in, I took it into my soul. But yet here I sit, willing it to be Sunday. I must be crazy!

Benita

... Yes Man, playing on deck 15 around the Calypso Pool. The movie starring Jim Carey appeared to be quite funny, something we'd likely rent upon our return home.

The afternoon had us resting on our balcony, enjoying a bottle of vino, watching the Mediterranean pass by us at 20 knots per hour.

We made reservations at Michelangelo's Dining Room where, Rick dressed in a tux and Elsie ...

Hi Folks,
Just thought I would include this port as we stopped there unexpectedly this morning to disembark another ill passenger (or maybe it was the same on). We are supposed to be having a day at sea today which we are but by stopping at Messina it has delayed tomorrows' arrival at Piraeus, but the Captain has just announced that we will not miss any ...

... sehr schön (stein-strand), vorallem die isola bella und umgebung.









So verbrachten wir die meiste zeit in diesem nizza-kaff und dessen strand und waren froh, als wir weiterreisen konnten (leider buchten wir gleich 3nächte/4tage dort).

Auf der rückreise war es unmöglich, in diesem kaff ein ticket für den zug zu kaufen (bahnhof war stets völlig verlassen, der ticket-automat längst defekt) und so fuhren wir billetlos im zug und hofften ...

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.

... A small village perched high above the Mediterranean sea. It's church tower was spotted by Francis Ford Coppola from below and that was how he picked this for the movie the Godfather. It is the village where Michael spots his bride to be and the wedding party winds through the small streets. Very beautiful.

We then went to Taormina ...

... boat was literally ready to pull away. There was nothing we could do. Thankfully, it was only money. Our passports were safe and sound on the ship, as was my ATM card and some American cash. We lost our only credit card, Dan's ATM card and some Euros. We've put a hold on the cards and we'll just use my ATM from now on. Thank goodness our cards weren't together. Oh well. We're not going to let a little thing like this spoil our honeymoon.

... and green. While we're waiting to enter the town I overhear a discussion between two people beside me. It went along the lines of - Wife: "I need to use the bathroom." Husband: "But they're free at the theatre." Wife: "I need to go now." I look around and catch their cabin number on the luggage tag they have attached to their day bag - 703X - a ...

... It also has two "desk" areas for charts. This is the electronic center of the ship. This is where Jeeves, Ray and Otto reside, as well as the circuit box for everything else. There is storage under the seating which is pretty full of ropes, fenders and life jackets. We also have VHF and SSB radios. Under the thickly insulated floors of the pilot house are the engines (two). We have two 39 HP diesel engines to help us out when the wind doesn't cooperate ...