Our next stop was a short trip up to Taormina, Sicily. We actually docked in the harbor and took a tender boat to a town below. Then we paid $15 for an all day pass to go to Taormina and back in a bus. The above picture is a view from the ship.
Taking pictures once we got to the top.
Just awesome views!
Mom and me in front of a fountain, picture taken by friends we met. Those friends had us take their picture earlier in some other port, and it kind of just seemed that we took a few excursions together and take each other's picture.
We decided to explore on our own on this trip as well. We basically walked up and down the main street, then took a side trip trying to find an ancient stadium that was around (we never did).
A pretty shop along the way. You might notice the no photography signs in the window. Uh, ignored.
A church along the way. I should point out that I don't think I've ever been in more churches over a two week period than on this trip. They were all amazing in their own ways.
I watched the Godfather for the first time on TV within the last year, so I just had to get a cannoli. Pretty good! I think this was me trying to do a mobster look.
I kept looking, but couldn't find my house here. But it must be there, because I must live here! This picture was taken as we were searching for the ancient stadium/ampitheater. We ended up in a non touristy place, and it was nice. There was a school nearby.
I took so many pictures of stairways on this trip. It's amazing how nice a stairway can look.
I have a friend who says this picture is just screaming to be made into a painting. Oh that reminds me, I owe her it in an email.
Overlooking the bay
That's Mt. Etna, the most active volcano in Europe. It spews steam all the time.
So after a nice day of enjoying the late Fall sun and checking out the shops, it was finally time to go back to the ship and head out. This is a shot of us leaving, with Mt. Etna in the background.
Our captain was really cool. After leaving Sorrento, he took us for a closeup view of the island of Capri, which was really cool. After leaving Sicily, he took us really close to Stromboli, another volcano and has created a volcano island. Unlike Mt. Etna, Stromboli erupts frequently with lava flows, so it's very spectacular. I couldn't take any really good pictures of it, but it was amazing, even though some of the people on board were annoying. Before we turned to go by the spot where you could see the lava flow, some people were starting to complain because they couldn't see much. Then they kept joking that the ship must send a signal and then the volcano comes on. These bright people evidently didn't see us turning around the island to see it.
Anyways, eventually almost everyone left and I ended up the only one still on the top deck looking our at the volcano miles and miles away as we made our trip up the Italian coast.
OK, the next day was our day at sea, so I'll take that time to talk more about life aboard the ship and some of the other highlights of the cruise that I haven't mentioned, as I've been so focused on the destinations, and not the journey (which ironically is the name of our ship).
Posts
