First stop - Sicily! We had gotten a tip that Messina, where our boat was set to dock, was not all that exciting so we should head up the coast to the small town of Taormina. We had planned to take a train, but at the station some fellow cruise ship folks said their travel agent recommended the bus...and since the next train wasn’t for almost two hours we decided to tag along. There was a bus leaving in a few minutes and although it was going to take an hour longer than the train it still seemed the better option. That was until we were a few miles down the road and our bus caught on FIRE!! That’s right...the bus stopped, we assumed just to pick some people up, but all of sudden the back door opens and we see the driver running to the back with a fire extinguisher! We all turn around to see a huge cloud of smoke and flames shooting out the back.
Jacob grabbed Autumn and got out while I quickly gathered our items and got off of there! We were all coughing from the smoke inhalation, but after some water and fresh air, our lungs stopped burning and all was well. Not the best start to the day...ha! Luckily another bus came and picked us up and we were once again in route.
It took about two and a half hours total to get there and only left us about two hours for sightseeing before we had to head back to the ship. We wandered around, grabbed a quick bite to eat and sampled the sicilian specialty, a cannoli...and can I just say, AMAZING!!
It was really delicious...we were both regretting the fact that we shared one and didn’t have our own :o)
Taormina was a charming little town, with lots of little alley ways Here are a few pictures of Taormina and Europe’s largest active volcano, Mt. Etna (sorry it was a pretty hazy day so it's kinda difficult to even see)...it’s crazy to see snow atop a volcano...in fact I would never have guessed it was even a volcano if you hadn’t told me.
We decided to forgo our return bus tickets and take the much more reliable train on the way back. We had a bit of time left to explore when we returned to Messina, so we strolled around town and agreed...although it was a bit of an effort to get to and our time there was brief, Taormina was definitely worth it.
Click here for the full Sicily Album...oh and a few of Autumn in her swimsuit on the cruise...although she didn't even want to touch the water because it was FREEZING!!
Next we head to Kusadasi, Turkey...
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