Day 3 of the cruise brought us to the port city of Messina, Sicily. Our docking was delayed by another cruise ship that had parked in our spot. After an hour of puttering around the harbor, we finally were able to disembark. Our excursion today was to the resort village of Taormina. This is a beautiful little town nestled on the steep mountainside above the sea. The second season of White Lotus was filmed there and it certainly lived up to its reputation. Mt. Etna looms in the distance as you look down into crystal clear waters of the Mediterranean!

Like Amalfi, the main street is lined with specialty shops, restaurants, and hotels. It was filled with throngs of tourists but that just made it more exciting. With our guide, we traveled all the way to the botanical garden located on the grounds of a palace for more breath taking views. She was a bubbly and friendly person who directed us to the best place for arancini and Aperol spritz! By mistake, the waiter brought me a Lemoncello spritz. He encouraged me to try it and was delighted that I loved it. Sometimes mistakes are better than what we thought we wanted! Because of the late docking, our excursion was shorter than planned, however we enjoyed every second of the seaside paradise!

Our bus brought us back to Messina with plenty of time to wander. I had read about the cathedral in the middle of the town that boasts an ornate clock tower. At noon, all of the doors and windows of the tower open to reveal mechanical figurines that move as it chimes. We were there at about 3:30 so we didn’t get to see all of the movement. However, every quarter hour, one of the windows or doors open to reveal a little show. The inside of the cathedral was as beautiful as any we’d seen in Rome or Amalfi. This one also had huge nativity display in one of the chapels. I finished the day with a scrumptious cannoli. It was twice as large as the ones you get here in the Boston area, and very tasty!! Tomorrow is a sea day and we say goodbye to Italy, but looking forward to Greece and Turkey!!