Jewel of the Seas - Messina, Sicily - Castelmola
This morning we were rudely awakened by drilling in the crew stairway
outside our cabin at 8am. We tried to fight it but the drilling went on
for an hour so eventually we got up. We weren’t due into port until
11am.
I grabbed my provider Royal cup for the machines and we headed up to WJ for breakfast. sadly the only machines on the ship do not carry any Diet Coke or Coke Zero and every time I tried to get Powerade zero it was out. The machines were useless to me.
After eating we made it to the gym for a quick workout. We were sailing through the strait so got distracted by the beauty.
One of the ladies on our roll call arranged an excursion through Sicily4You to Castelmola & Taormina. Our decided meeting time was 11:30am just outside the terminal and cost would be 50euro each. I was a bit nervous at first as this would be our first ever non ship booked excursion but I felt confident based on so many reviews I’ve read from people who have suggested going outside the cruiseline.
It ended up being 12 of us, 6 couples from all over the map and was an amazing day. One couple from New Zealand we still stay in touch with on Instagram.
There are videos online of the clock chiming so I won’t post those photos here but Ave Maria was playing, a breeze was blowing, and tears came to my eyes.
After the clock chimes we made our way across the plaza to the waiting bus.
During the drive up to Castelmola Kiara gave us a ton of local history.
Some of the notes I took: Each family makes their own olive oil at home from green olives. 1 tree makes 8 liters. I liter is 11 euro. Her grandma and father shake the trees, they gather the olives and then press them, straining the pulp. She’s never had store bought oil.
There are 21 letters in their alphabet as compared to the 26 in ours.
Keara is finishing her 3rd year college and wants to go for masters in Ireland for hotel host industry.
I can say she will be fantastic at it! We had many conversations with her throughout the day and she has a true zest about her.
Castelmola is about 1700ft above sea level and the drive up was a lot of one lane switchbacks. The views are epic but you definitely feel the gain!
Ruins of a Norman castle are at the top of the city so fiancé and I made the 5 minute climb up towards the end of our hour stop there.
I wrote this in my notes:
I dont really have words for today. We’re standing in a destroyed castle at the top of a mountain and Nate finds out a coworker of several years had passed away from cancer.
It started misting just about that time and we both recognized the bitter sweetness of the moment and living life with no regrets.
Next post will continue the day with our stop in Taormina
I grabbed my provider Royal cup for the machines and we headed up to WJ for breakfast. sadly the only machines on the ship do not carry any Diet Coke or Coke Zero and every time I tried to get Powerade zero it was out. The machines were useless to me.
After eating we made it to the gym for a quick workout. We were sailing through the strait so got distracted by the beauty.
One of the ladies on our roll call arranged an excursion through Sicily4You to Castelmola & Taormina. Our decided meeting time was 11:30am just outside the terminal and cost would be 50euro each. I was a bit nervous at first as this would be our first ever non ship booked excursion but I felt confident based on so many reviews I’ve read from people who have suggested going outside the cruiseline.
It ended up being 12 of us, 6 couples from all over the map and was an amazing day. One couple from New Zealand we still stay in touch with on Instagram.
There are videos online of the clock chiming so I won’t post those photos here but Ave Maria was playing, a breeze was blowing, and tears came to my eyes.
After the clock chimes we made our way across the plaza to the waiting bus.
During the drive up to Castelmola Kiara gave us a ton of local history.
Some of the notes I took: Each family makes their own olive oil at home from green olives. 1 tree makes 8 liters. I liter is 11 euro. Her grandma and father shake the trees, they gather the olives and then press them, straining the pulp. She’s never had store bought oil.
There are 21 letters in their alphabet as compared to the 26 in ours.
Keara is finishing her 3rd year college and wants to go for masters in Ireland for hotel host industry.
I can say she will be fantastic at it! We had many conversations with her throughout the day and she has a true zest about her.
Castelmola is about 1700ft above sea level and the drive up was a lot of one lane switchbacks. The views are epic but you definitely feel the gain!
Ruins of a Norman castle are at the top of the city so fiancé and I made the 5 minute climb up towards the end of our hour stop there.
I wrote this in my notes:
I dont really have words for today. We’re standing in a destroyed castle at the top of a mountain and Nate finds out a coworker of several years had passed away from cancer.
It started misting just about that time and we both recognized the bitter sweetness of the moment and living life with no regrets.
Next post will continue the day with our stop in Taormina
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