IntrepidFromDC

Taormina is one of my favorite small towns to visit in the world, along with Toledo, Spain and Salzburg, Austria.

On our drive to the restaurant for lunch we could see the peak of Mt. Etna smoldering. From the highway we could also see Taormina (r) and Castlemora (l). Lunch was a welcome break from ship food.

One of the seven craters and surrounding dried 2022 lava flows...

The highway to Etna and the climb up the volcano, passing through clouds...

The bus trip from Messina to our lofty perch on Mt. Etna was about an hour. Unfortunately today Etna is not billowing grey smoke or fiery lava, but only a little white smoke that blends in with the crowds. But we did get to visit two of the lower craters that experts say are safe to visit. There was evidence of recent lava flows we passed, Nadia said it was from June and that Etna has had only 2 explosive eruptions in 2022 compared to 55 in 2021. These first 4 pics are in Messina as we left on the bus.

Today I took the 9 hour excursion to Taormina and up Mt. Etna as far as we're presently allowed to go, with lunch in another town I didn't understand the tour guide's pronunciation of. It was the best Carnival excursion I've ever been on. The bus driver, Massimo displayed Andretti-like Italian driving skills navigating hairpin turns with efficient expertise and passing BMW's on the open highway left and right. But our tourguide Nadia stole the show, she transferred sooo much knowledge in such lively detail and never ran low on energy with outgoing Sicilian pride. Perfetto, Nadia and Massimo! This trip was my first time to Greece and I estimate 12th or so to Italy. Over the years some people would say "oh if you like Italy you'll LOVE Greece." Docking in Messina after four Greek and one Turkish port felt like a thrilling homecoming to me. So I would say "If you like Greece you'll LOVE Italy!"

He seems average to me, as long as they're not annoying they're ok. He did host Love and Marriage and asked everyone there to open their doors at 7am ,go in the hallway and make a loud sound which fits Carnival's wacky fun, I think but I imagine it just confused and/or angered the people who weren't in on his little prank.

Ciao, Greece!

...and introduced Eric Clapton's song as "Wonderful Night"

Doesn't know the words to Margaritaville or Amarillo By Morning

The $12 cost was included in my $59 Carnival excursion on a big bus. But I ran into two women from my dinner table who said they paid $50 for a rt taxi who waited for them for 2 hours and that non-Carnival excursion didn't include the $12 ticket. I would have had time in town if I rushed through the ruins and/or town, but I wanted to absorb as much history as possible. That said, the bus was parked alot closer to the town than the ruins and museum.

Yes, that's exactly what I learned today. I was just surprised and thought others may be too.

This is the ticket booth, it's $12 and the ticket gets you entry to the ruins and museums.

The artifacts in the museum were in much better shape than the ruins.

Archaeologists found ancient homes that pre-date ancient Olympia.

The tourguide talked more about the cultural and religious importance of the Olympic games than about sport. Much of the signage around the ruins also stresses the importance of the ancient Olympics as being dedicated to Zeus and most of the ruins are thermal spans, feasting buildings, public baths and Olympic council buildings. I didn't see a placard about sporting events at all and I read every one I saw. I found this a surprising but interesting perspective. The games were held every 4 years from 776bc to about 400.

The countryside has a lot of burned out areas from the fires Greece endured last year. The region grows a kind of olives that are used to press for extra virgin olive oil, starts with a k but not Kalamata which are from a region nearby. They also grow cotton, tourguide said this is the only place in all of Europe where cotton is grown.

We docked at the small Katakalon port and drove through the main street before hitting the countryside for a 30-minute drive to Olympia. It's a small town, population 500. The tourguide said they get a lot of tourists in the summer, mostly from the cruise ships and from Greeks who want a cheaper beach holiday than the Greek Isles.

Today: Olympia ruins and museum. We are already 15 minutes late for calling the first number.

I think I read on St. Greg's thread 2 cruises ago that the laundry bags shrunk. I agree.

I don't know his name, but this guy was worth the admission price and then some.