Little Lolly's Small Adventures: Messina, Sicily. Excursion: Best of Best of Taormina & Mt. Etna for Small Groups.

Yesterday was a sea day so I spent a bit of time working on my blog and later on helped the Shore Excursions Department with collating the new brochure pages, and stapling them. There was another lady, Hazel, who came to the print room to help and so making up of the brochures went very quickly.

Late afternoon the Shore Excursions Department asked me, Hazel and Reina (the Environmental Officer's wife) to help clean the plastic number flags used for the tour buses. Some of the flags were really dirty so it took a bit of elbow grease and a good cleaning liquid to get rid of some of the stains and dirt which had accumulated over quite a long period of time. The flags looked a lot better afterwards.

It was overcast when we arrived in Messina today. Rain was on its way and I fervently hoped that it would rain at the end of the day - after the tours. Ha! I will come back to that in a bit.

The tour group I was assigned to was soon on its way to Mt Etna's Crateri Silvestri, through Messina, on to a motorway towards Mt Etna, with Ionian Sea on our left. We could see, from the bus windows, the medieval village of Forza D’Agro where the Godfather was filmed.

We had a toilet stop of 10 minutes which became 15 because someone went to get something to eat. Note - it was a toilet stop, not a time to shop.

We continued on towards Crateri Silvestri, driving along lower slopes of Mt Etna into the Regional Park, passing through Santa Venerina and Zafferana Etnea.

At a viewpoint near Crateri Silvestri our bus driver parked the bus and we had a walk to the inferior crater. Right at the start of the walk the more active and agile passengers were given the chance to go walk up to the Superior Crateri Silvestri on their own (about a 20 minutes walk uphill and 20 minutes back), or stay with Marina, our guide. Most people stayed with our guide.

Looking into Crateri Silvestri with Superior Crateri Silvestri in the
distance - the brown mound, top left of the picture.

Marina, talked about the crater and how volcanoes are formed. Unfortunately I didn't get much of a chance to listen to her talk because a guest decided he needed his walker after all. The driver had got the walker out but the passenger left it behind, thinking he could manage the walk without it. A short while later he needed his walker. I ran to update Marina and then went back to see if the bus driver was on the bus. He wasn’t. I went back to the guest and his wife to explain that the driver had locked the bus and gone for refreshments or a break during the hour that the passengers were away. They were fine with that and decided to sit at the small café near the bus. They insisted I join the tour group so I did. After Marina’s talk we had some free time to walk around the crater site and or go to the restaurant or shops. I enjoyed the views from the edge of the crater. Looking at the loose gravelly volcanic rock and stones around the crater - I doubt that the couple I had left behind at the café would have managed to walk the short distance up to the lip of the crater let alone walk around it.

Lava fields and bus parking area with the cable station up to the
top of Mr Etna in the distance.

I subsequently discovered that couple, who I had left at the café, had seen the bus driver and asked him to get the walker out. He did so and the couple were able to take a bit of a walk to other souvenir shops near the inferior Crateri Silvestri.

There was a cable-car up to the top of Mt Etna but that was not part of our tour and to do it on our own would have taken a minimum of 2 hours to complete.

On the drive to Taromina Marina talked further about Mt Etna and then played a video about the formation of Mt Etna and its history of eruptions. It was very interesting and everyone appreciated it.

By the time we reached Taormina it was starting to rain. Fortunately the bus was parked in a covered parked in a covered parking lot but on the outskirts of the town. And so our walking tour began. I managed to buy a big umbrella but it eventually did little to keep me dry. Because it was raining Marina gave guests option to explore the town on their own or have a coffee somewhere - but only after she had walked them to the restaurant which would be our meeting point for lunch at 2pm.

Two guests were very slow and couldn’t keep up. The hill to the village was steep and the roads were of cobbled stone. I had to run between them and Marina to let her know that we were getting behind. It was really difficult for Marina to strike a happy medium between fast and slow guests - and naturally most wanted to stay dry! When we caught up with the group the guest gave Marina a piece of his mind. But even after that dressing down, I still felt that she went too fast as we continued the walk towards the restaurant/ meeting point. The couple decided not to continue with the walk and went into the restaurant to wait.

The rain became torrential. Some other guests decided not to continue walking in the rain, others were happy to plod on. Eventually one guest, who managed to get to the entrance of the ancient theatre (Teatro Antico di Taormina), decided to head back to the restaurant – he was not happy about being wet and not enjoying the tour. I didn't blame him. I wanted to find somewhere to dry off but it wouldn't have been a good example for me to leave the rest of the tour group!

Much as we would have liked to have had a proper wander around Teatro Antico di Taormina, it was too wet so Marina gave us verbal overview as we took shelter under a massive archway. We could see the ancient theatre and take photographs but the rain did not do the pictures any justice of such a grand place.

We headed back out into the rain to the restaurant (Ristorante Granduca) - a good 5 to 10 minutes walk. By this time there were rivers of water running down the roads and I was up to my ankles in water; my trousers and sandals soaked. There were two stragglers who couldn't walk fast so I walked with them while Marina headed with the rest of the group to the restaurant, and she walked towards us to make sure we were heading in the right direction.

Time to get dry and warm at last! Well, not for Marina. We were met at the restaurant door with a weeping woman. Her husband, with his walker, had taken off into the rain to wander around town on his own. She was beside herself with worry because he hadn't turned up. Marina went back out into the rain to find him, advising me to stay with the guests.

It took a while before we got started with the meal because in her haste to look for the missing guest, Marina forgot to let the restaurant know to start serving lunch in the meantime. They started serving lunch when she got back after finding the chap. The couple, after the husband had rested a bit, eventually joined us in the restaurant.

Another guest was missing. It turned out that after briefly stopping at the restaurant – he had headed back to the bus, telling his wife that he was too wet to eat and wanted to go back to the bus. He had been very upset. The wife remained at the restaurant with us and had lunch. So Marina called the bus driver and let him know to expect the guest and to make him comfortable. If the guest needed anything – the bus driver was to help, and make sure the gentleman was ok. Apparently he did make it to the bus safely. The wife was relieved that at least her husband was ok.

Despite all that had happened, the meal was very nice. Most people were upbeat despite being wet - saying the rain couldn’t be helped and that it would be something to write home about and laugh about later on.

After lunch we headed back to the bus, a bit damp and wet. It was still raining but not as heavy as it had been earlier.

Overall the tour of the town could have been really nice. From what I could partly see in the rain, the city was quaint and certainly well worth a visit on a dry day!

As for the rain... I wonder if the walking part of the tour should have been abandoned or whether there should have been an alternative in place for a rainy day. But then Sicily doesn't get much rain at all throughout the year and we had come on one of the days that it rained so perhaps there shouldn't be an alternative tour in place. It is a tricky think - trying to balance things for tour guests and whether a tour should be cancelled outright or not. I therefore remain neutral.

Our tour group was a mixed bag of happy and not so happy, soaked passengers. We must have all looked quite a sight rocking up at the gangway still very wet. There was a mad dash through security as my group headed back to their cabins to have a hot shower or a bath and get dry. I, likewise, was only too glad to have a hot shower and put on something warm and comfortable. I hope tomorrow will be a better day. 😊

At around 8:00/8:30pm we passed the volcano of Stromboli. By then the weather was clear and the rain had stopped. Just as well because we were able to see Stromboli at night, spewing out lava. Paul and the captain very kindly allowed me to come onto the bridge and I was able to have a nice clear view of the volcano. It took a few minutes for my eyes to adjust to the darkness but then everything became clearer as we got closer to the island, and passing the island to our starboard side. The volcanic action was beautiful sight to see. In the end I swapped the camera for Paul's binoculars and it was easier for me to see what was happening. Paul took over the photography and took some nicer pictures than I did. An announcement was made that we were passing Stromboli and soon guests came out on deck. No doubt the announcement interrupted the concert in the showroom but I am not sure whether concert ground to a halt, temporarily, or whether it continued. The captain decreased the speed of the ship so that all of us could make the most of this wondrous moment. Everyone went quiet in awe, with a few gasps now and then when lava spewed out into the air. Now and then there was a thundery sound as the volcano rumbled. It was ..... wow!!; and a sight I will never forget in a hurry.

PHOTOGRAPHS

En-route to Crateri Silvestri/Mt Etna