Today we were in Catania, Sicily. We had an early excursion time at 7:00 am so we met in Cabanas early once again then we were off to the Walt Disney Theater.

Our day started out with a 45 minute drive to Taormina. This is a medieval town that was built in Greek times and, like much of Italy, taken over by the Romans. The name means between two mountains. It is about 230 meters above the sea. It is beautiful. We walked down the main street of town, past two churches the city hall, many shops and historic buildings before arriving at the medieval theater. It was built on a hillside so that they could have stadium seating and the sea to the back of the stage so that the wind from the sea could carry the voices of the performers.

The theater is still in use today although it was badly damaged in WWII much of it has been restored.

We were given free time to wander Taormina before meeting back with the group at the gate to the city and then walking back to the parking lot to get on the bus.

We then took about a 90 minute ride to the summit of Mt. Etna….well not exactly the summit but the lower two calderas of the volcano. Mt. Etna is about 10,000 ft. in elevation and is an active volcano. We were hoping to be able to see the sea and city below but, because of the smoke that is constantly venting from the volcano, the view was hazy.

This volcano, was different than Mt Vesuvius in that this volcano is the type that oozes lava while Mt. Vesuvius is the kind of volcano that erupts and spews ash into the air. The landscape was very different on Etna as it is lava rock of varying colors and lava rocks that had been crushed into a deep brown dirt. To get the the highest point, you must take a cable car ride which was not part of our tour.

Our next stop was a restaurant where we were served a Sicilian Lunch of antipasto, pasta with a tomato sauce and another pasta with a pistachio pesto sauce and then cannelloni for dessert. It was all very good.

We then boarded our bus and headed back to the ship. We arrived back on board just before we departed the port of Catania.

Before dinner, Kelsie and I went up on deck and rode the Aqua Dunk and relaxed on the deck while Nikki took a break in the room and Regan did laundry.

Dinner was in Animators Palate and was a special Greek menu. So far, this was the best dinner menu we had on the entire cruise. When the girls arrived at dinner we found out that Kelsie had hit her nose on the cabinet in their room and it hurt so, she and Nikki went to the Medical Center to have it looked at. Luckily it was not broken, just tender. We hope to not need to go back to the Health Center for any reason on this trip!

After dinner we walked, shopped and Nikki and the girls went to see Twice Charmed while I watched Hercules on the Funnel Vision.

Tonight we advance our clocks up by one hour because Greece is on a different time zone than Italy.

Dinner
Ric: Pita and Dips, Beet Napoleon, Greek Salad, Mixed Grill and Baklava
Nikki: Chicken and Fennel Skewers and Baklava
Regan: Spanikopita, Fisherman's Stew, Mixed Grill and Baklava
Kelsie: Spanikopita, Greek Salad, Chicken and Fennel Skewers and Baklava
Dessert for the table: Carmel Cheesecake, Sundae with Cantaloupe and Greek Yogurt and Lemon Cake