Jolly Hotel Messina

... Cagney's, one of the covercharge restaurants. For $25 each one gets 5* service and food. I had a shrimp cocktail with four huge shrimp, ceasar salad, six ginourmous lambchops, asparagus, sauteed mushrooms, and a raspberry creme brulee. Jim had blue crab stuff portabellas, tomato and vidalia salad, 10oz NY strip steak, potatoes augratin, and onion rings(?). For dessert he had an apple crisp alamode. Wine with everything.
A very nice thing done on ...

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 ...

... in a beautiful dress, enjoyed a beautiful dinner with a window view, thanks to Elsie who had the forsight to book reservations.

Our post dinner ritual had us stop by the International Cafe for a piece of cheese cake, on the way to the Princess Theatre. Nothing like those double desserts! That's why we get friendly with those cardio machines in the fitness center!

The evening ...

... probably have shortened stays at a couple of them. I loved the look of this port but we were only there for one hour and weren't allowed off the ship. You will have to look on the map to find out where we have just been. Weather is absolutely fabulous, sea is calm and the drinks are still flowing. Keep the emails and messages coming, we love them. Bye for now.

... dass wir im zug lösen konnten. Der schaffner bedeutete uns, dass dies nicht möglich sei und sagte, an der nächsten haltestelle warte der zug 10minuten, sodass ich rausgehen und ein ticket lösen könne. Evi blieb sicherheitshalber im zug beim gepäck, falls seine aussage nicht stimmen würde (weil bis anhin nur sehr selten die aussagen der sizilianer stimmten). Doch er versicherte uns, dass dies ganz ganz sicher so sei. Ich rannte raus und suchte den automaten, als evi bereits nach ...

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.

... amazing town with fantastic views. We saw 4 weddings. The father and the bride walk through the streets and meet the guest who are waiting outside the church and then they all proceed into the church together. We saw the amphitheater where the Taormina film festival was taking place.

Beautiful views and fun places to shop.

Today is an 'At sea' day - finally a vacation from our vacation - we slept in, laid by the pool and surfed the internet. The weather had changed a little - hot, sunny and windy. The seas were the roughest so far and we almost got soaked as we walked by the swimming pool. The person ahead of us wasn't as lucky. But walking wasn't too difficult and as the day went, the seas became calmer. We had lunch in the Orion ...

... suite. Maybe *****ing over 1 euro to use a toilet is how they can afford the suite! The theatre is interesting - build by the Greeks for dancing and music and looking out over the ocean and then later modified by the Romans so that gladiators and animals could fight. They closed it up so there was no ocean view (more important to have a few ...

... On the port aft side of the pilot house are three steps down to the master suite. This is truly a wonder to behold. After 22 years of sleeping in a V-birth on Spindrift with Chris' and my feet battling over space, we have all the room we could ever want.pf The bunk fills the aft section of this area and is approximately 7 x 7 foot. I actually think that we could probably sleep five people back there. Not that we ever would, mind you, I'm just giving you a ...