We Want to See the Whole World

We slept in until 9:45 and went straight to the buffet for breakfast since it closes at 10:30. After a quick workout we headed out of the terminal towards the barakka lift (gardens elevator). The ticket to go up is 1euro each and the stairs were closed. First elevator we took the entire trip so far! Anyone who said there’s nothing to see here is heavily mistaken. 10/10 stars for this port. I was not too sure what to expect with this port. I knew that we could go to Mdina but other than that I’d only really heard of the barraka gardens We exited the gardens and stepped into magic. Malta is unlike anything I’d ever seen before. One thing about everywhere we went is that you don't see a typical grocery store like we have in the states...everything is an open air market style...fruits and veggies lining the streets and very rarely do you see packaged or processed goods. Everywhere you look is a new street with new colors, sounds, and sites. ...

After spending an hour in Castelmola our group met back up and began the journey half way down the mountain to the town of Taormina. Taormina dates back to years BC! Wikipedia has quite the history read on it...take some time and go check it out. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taormina It was frequently windy and misted on us quite a bit but we had no cares! I ate my way through Sicily. I had started out the day with my hair down and wearing a cute hat but the heat and rain killed that vibe. I consoled myself with gelato. We spent a couple of hours wandering the streets of Taormina, taking in the sights, the sounds, the beautiful colors. I forgot to mention that our time in Castelmola & Taormina was all free time. We didn’t have to stay together as a group. We met back up at the designated time and all chatted about the day and our lives on the drive back to port. It truly was a great day and we would highly recommend Sicily4You. https://www.sicily4...

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 goin...

We woke up at 9:30, showered and re-packed. We checked out of the hotel, paying the required city tax in cash, and then waited outside for Maurizio. A group of ladies sitting across the courtyard were also waiting on transport to Civi but to another cruiseline...I can’t remember which.  Maurizio showed up on time and carrying 3 other couples in the van all headed to the Jewel. We introduced ourselves and chatted during the 1 hour drive. They were all from Utah and it was a first cruise for a couple of them. I told them they’d now be spoiled for all future cruises!  Maurizio seems to have playlists for his drives and sang a majority of the way there. Thank god the highway was mostly open traffic. He is very skilled at driving in Italy and somehow managed not to hit any of the cars he was speedily passing. I don’t want to discourage anyone from using his service at all! He was very communicative and obviously the price was right for us. Here he is playing th...

After the Forum we decided to wander the streets and make our way to Trevi Fountain I had also read a couple of reviews about the elevator to the top at Altar of the Fatherland. We decided to head back that way since it was soon to be sunset and I wanted photos over the city. We were almost to the elevator and I thought the heat was effecting Nate because he needed to sit down. After a while he got back up and we paid the 10euro each to take the elevator to the top. I had to close my eyes and hold my stomach. The views up here are WELL worth the elevator ride and cover charge. 360 degrees of beautiful. We continued to watch the sunset and watch the crowds steadily head back down the elevator. It was soon to close so we didn’t have much time. We wanted a pic that wasn’t a selfie so Nate went to ask the employee up top to take our pic. Little did I know... Nate came back to put his arm around me but instead he dropped to his knee and proposed...right t...