Ports: Messina

In two days I’ll be back in Messina, Sicily for the last time.  It’s a nice Italian town with a terrifying road crossing right off of the ship.  I’m surprised that people aren’t injured or killed every time we dock.  There’s a busy road where cars don’t stop and then instead of there being a sidewalk on the other side there are two light rail tracks with a shin high median between them that you have to step over.  It’s like Frogger.

 

Probably the main attraction in the town is the bell tower.  It’s huge and mechanical.  At noon a lion roars, a cock crows, you see saints in procession, also the passage of youth to old age is depicted, and so much more.  You can also climb the tower for a small fee and see amazing views from high above all the other town buildings.  Pretty awesome.

 

This is the tower that stands watch over the harbor.

Brian has had his fill of delicious pasta.  Note the beer.

Mmm.  Cheesy.

Yes.  Fizzy mineral water, but check this out.

Silice (SiO2).  That’s sand, or glass, however you want to say it.  Awesome.

Brian and I took an embarrassing bus tour.  Neptune is calling us out.  We were spared any quacking at least.  But yes, reminiscent of the ducks in Seattle.

Hey.  I can see my house from here.

Ooh.  There’s the clock tower.

But first inside the amazing church.

I believe this is the largest pipe organ in Italy?  Maybe just Sicily, but this is just one of several banks of pipes around the church.

Now on to the clockwork.  I believe this guy is the “old man.”  Also on this wheel is a young man and a really old man and maybe a boy.  In any case…

They parade by the grim reaper every day at noon.  Ominous, eh?

Here’s the lion that roars, taken from inside the tower.

A detail of one of the beautiful bells.  They don’t swing them to ring them anymore.  There’s a mechanical striker that hits them.

And finally the clock face.

And the view from the top.

And then there was this awesome deli.  Yesterday I got a “written warning” basically for having the ingredients for a sandwich in my room.  How do you say “worth it,” in Italian.

Only one Month to go.

In about 2 days I’ll be a month away from getting off the ship.  It always goes pretty fast, but at the same time I’m not sure whether I’m hitting my stride or I’m getting ready to be done. 

 

The travel is great.  We’re seeing new places on this cruise and I love all the ports in their own special ways.  But living on the ship will always be weird and unsettled.  There are too many people all jockeying for social and professional positions, too often scoring points by making someone else’s life harder.  So there is always this cloud of uncertainty about what is expected, and always people that can make your life better or worse depending on mood. 

 

Today we were on Crete, the largest of the Grecian isles.  There was a nice, old section of town in Hania, where we walked around and saw the harbor and the market and lots of little side streets.  A good day of seeing new things.  Hopefully we may get to a gorge the next time we’re here.  It’s a bit out of the way, but probably doable.

 

Tomorrow we’ll be in Athens again.  Probably Piraeus, the port town actually, I don’t know if I’ll go into Athens for anything tomorrow.  I’d like to do some mundane shopping for things like a thermos and a tea ball so I can make tea in my room.  That would be nice.  Soap and floss are on the list too.

 

Looking forward to Istanbul.  I’m going to see friend who went mountain biking with me and my sister and brother-in-law and his sister in North Dakota in 2001.  He’s  a good friend of my brother-in-law’s from college, but is now living on a small island near Istanbul.  I really haven’t been writing much, so I must say that I can barely express how awesome Turkey is.  Visit Turkey.  It’s markets are amazing.  It’s people are warm and friendly.  It’s landscape and history, amazing to behold.

 

So I’ll of course, post a bunch of pictures now.  Probably a bit random, since so much time has passed since I posted last, but do enjoy…

 

Best graphic design ever.  This is Turkish (well at least bought in Istanbul) shave soap.  I am genuinely getting my closest shaves ever with this stuff.  Smells like the stuff that Tomas, the Kusadasi barber, uses when I get a shave there.

The Kraken lives!

We did a special late show for the crew.  During that show we picked a couple designs that people had drawn to make out of glass.  The one I chose happens to be the Kraken devouring a guest. Guess someone was having a bad day.

Jazz band Friends, Dara and Greg, at our favorite pizza spot in Citivecchia, our home port.

That’s right.  We’re eating Mexican food in Santorini, Greece.  Not the best I’ve ever had, but for sure the best I’ve had in the Mediterranean.  The next few pics are the same evening on Santorini.

The view of the ship from the rim of the crater in Santorini.

 

To explain a bit more.  If you look at a map of Santorini, you will see that there are a few distinct islands.  They used to be one, until the largest volcanic eruption the world has ever know blew the island into the sky.  This picture is taken from the rim of what is left.  From there across to those tiny lights in the upper left in the picture; that used to be part of the same volcanic mountain.  Now (clearly) gone.  The island in the middle is the volcano building a new mountain.  The water is encircled by a crescent of land that was left after the eruption.  The landscape is stunning.

 

Here we are walking down the donkey path to the dock where we will catch a boat back to the ship. 

A view of the ship from the boat.  It’s pretty unusual for us to be in port this late in the evening.  It was pretty exciting.

Here we are on Crete, in the market in Chania.  I am impressed by the big cheese.

Woah.  Hello salty fishes.

A minaret in the old town.

Miranda looking stylish in my stylish hat.  Hi Annette!

Venetians ruled Crete for a period.  This harbor was developed under their influence.

 

Alright.  Let’s get this post up so all my friends can see how much fun I’m having.  As I write this I’m recovering from the coldest show we have ever put on.  More to come on that front.  I’m a bit concerned.  We’re still in the Mediterranean which has the well deserved reputation for mildness.  In a couple weeks at the beginning of December we’re headed for the open ocean.  Whee.