Today we grabbed a quick brekky and set out fairly early to
explore the coastal city of Messina. It
was located right at the pier, so we didn’t have to walk far to begin seeing
the sights.
We opted to do this day ourselves instead of joining a tour
because we thought it would be fairly easy to navigate throughout the
city. We began in a small church right
across the street from the ship. It was
called Chiesa SS. Annunziata dei Catalani, which had stunning flowers
surrounding it—a huge selling feature for Hildy.
Afterwards, we went to one of the biggest attractions, the
Bell Tower and Astronomical Clock, also known as Orologio Astronomico. Jessie of course spent a significant amount
of time here absorbing the details and workmanship that went into building the
magnificent structure. Unlike Hildy and I,
who looked at it, were impressed and moved on, Jessie could have spent hours
admiring it.
We began walking through various streets looking for
attractions and soon became lost. A
couple of elderly Italian men seemed to notice our unease and came up to us and
tried to offer us assistance. Although
there was a large language barrier between us, they communicated simple
directions for finding a fountain. We
weren’t sure which fountain this was, but decided to walk there anyways.
We soon found the fountain and noticed steps leading up to a
large church. After climbing half of the
steps, Hildy exclaimed that she had climbed enough and would wait for Jessie
and I to come down after we went to the top.
It took a bit of persuasion, but we were able to get her to climb the
rest of the steps. The reward was well
worth it… a spectacular view of the cityscape and harbor and even our cruise
ship from a distance.
We enjoyed the outside views for a while and then headed
into the church to sit for a while.
There were some employees in the back of the sanctuary selling various
trinkets to tourists and negotiating prices which impeded some of the ambiance,
but overall it was lovely.
On the way back, we decided to take the back road, instead
of the steps. There were no sidewalks
because everyone parked their tiny cars on them, so we had to be cautious for
oncoming traffic, but it provided us with a different view. We encountered a couple malnourished cats
along the way who struck sympathetic chords in Hildy’s heart… she wished she
had some food for them, but alas, the cat treats were long gone.
Once we got back to the regular streets in town, we found
the flea market. We walked up and down a
long street which had various vendors and cafes. Hildy loved all of the flowers and fruit
stands, especially the strawberries.
Jessie and I were quite shocked by this, because she had wanted to go to
the flea market all day; we assumed to buy some souvenirs, but really, she was
taken with the strawberries! We told her
she should buy some, but she declined because there was no water to wash them,
so instead we just looked at them and committed them to memory.
Jessie found an art store and a few clothing shops to browse
through. Unfortunately she didn’t find
anything for herself, but I bought a dress and two purses, so I was quite
pleased.
On our way back, there had been an accident on the sidewalk
and the ambulance was just arriving. In
an effort to avoid the chaos, we decided to take a side street, which led us to
a supermarket. Browsing through
supermarkets holds much joy for both Hildy and myself. I love to look at the various foods and goods
for sale, and see the differences between the countries. Jessie does not share this fascination with
us. Nevertheless, we spent a good 20
minutes browsing the aisles and picked up two bottles of wine, a bottle of
coffee liqueur and some throat lozenges.
Following the supermarket, we were in search of a café with Wi-fi. This was no easy task and proved to be one of
the most difficult locations to find an internet signal. We finally stumbled upon a pizzeria which
advertised free Wi-fi. After we ordered
a very cheesy Italian pizza, we connected to the internet, but the signal was
so weak we couldn’t call home. One of
the most surprising aspects of this trip is how much Hildy needs to be
connected. She’s almost always the one
asking about internet and calling home.
I assumed that since she hasn’t used a computer in her life, she
wouldn’t care about staying connected with home, but she loves to call home and
get updates about her cat and flowers.
It’s charming! And she never
complains about stopping to check email, which is nice.
After our slightly disappointing pizza, we headed back to
the ship where we cleaned up and went for dinner, which was superb, as
usual. For dessert, they served a
poached pear which was drizzled with a dark chocolate ganache… it was so
fantastic!
Hildy went to bed after dinner, but Jessie and I stayed up
to catch the show. Performing tonight
was Lance Ringwald, a USA Olympic Gymnast who showed us various acrobatic
techniques using a walker and silks. He
was quite impressive as he was showing his skills (especially in his tight
spandex uniform), but the most impressive aspect was when he informed us he was
42… I would have thought 28…. Oh, the benefits of a healthy lifestyle!
Jessie and I had our eye candy for the night, so it was off
to bed for sweet dreams!
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