Today, we ported in Messina, Sicily. We did not have an organized tour, so we took a taxi to Taormina. Our taxi driver spoke no English but was very nice. For one flat rate, our taxi took us to Taormina and then picked us up and took us back to port 4 hours later.  This worked out well for us.

We got to Taormina nice and early and we walked around before the crowds arrived. Taormina has gorgeous views with Mt. Etna in the background.

We did a little shopping walking around the beautiful streets.

While Kate and I were browsing stores, Dan and Jack sat on the “man bench”.

After shopping, we found lunch. Food is very easy to find in Europe. The streets are lined with cafe and restaurants. Also, they almost all have outdoor seating, which I love most days.  I got a pistachio ravioli that was delicious.

After our time in Taormina was through, we went back to Messina and had some gelato to round out our day in Sicily.

We didn’t get to see much of what Sicily has to offer, but we loved our easy day, and Siciliy is definitely a place we want to return too. We would have loved to visit beaches, Mt. Etna or a quieter city.  It has all the beautiful water of the Mediterranean Sea, the food and drink of Italy, and very nice people. We will be back to Sicily to explore more! Ciao!