Day 22 - 26 July Messina

 We woke up today just as we entered the port of Messina. No other cruise ships here, but a large number of ferries, mostly just runing the few kilometers across the Strait of Messina to the mainland.

Our original plan had been to go to the town of Taormina, south along the coast. But we were concerned that we'd be there in the heat for several hours and we didn't know where the bushfires are. So we decided to do just the local tour of Messina. As it turned out, it was only about 31 degrees, so the coolest since maybe Istanbul. It was also very overcast and quite gusty, which meant you could smell smoke coming from somewhere.

So the included tour first drove us around Messina. There was a more attractive area in the northern tip where there are a couple of saltwater lagoons. Otherwise it's largely an unattractive town; it was damaged in 1908 by an earthquake and then bombed in the second world war, so largely rebuilt in the post-war period with rows of concrete apartments. There are still some old churches, most of which had a degree of damage.

Swordfish felucca, Italy in background

We were then deposited in the town and given a coffee and cannoli, and finally walked the short distance to the square, where there is an extremely elaborate clock tower attached to the Basilica Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta. This rings at midday and the accompanying clockwork figures move for about ten minutes.

After that we could escape the tour ground. We walked around a few streets but there were neither interesting shops nor cafes. So we ambled back to the ship for lunch, reading et cetera.

In the evening the sea built a bit of a swell, which was the first time in the whole trip our motion was really noticeable. We had a very good Asian meal, during which we passed Mount Stromboli, an active volcano.