Taormina, Italy

Taormina is on the island of Sicily. 356 nautical miles from Montenegro.  As we approached the island the captain announced the winds were up causing a rough sea where we were supposed to moor.  He tipped us off for we were going to go wee Mt. Etna.  The gals immediately went to the excursion desk and changed our trip.  we heard the folks complain the went to Etna -- 2 hours up and 2 hours back without seeing anything but rain!  That reminded us of our adventure in Switzerland to see the Matterhorn.  All we saw was a huge cloud in a snow storm!

We didn't see rain until the last 10 minutes of our tour.  Sicily has a population of 7 million.  If you remember seeing "Patton", we were near Messina, the town that Patton arrived before the British after traversing considerable more distance.  From our lanai we could clearly see the mainland of Italy.

The east coast of Sicily was first occupied in the 8 BC. 

Just leaving the Messina Strait and entering the harbor to our dock ship.

Portside

Time for lunch -- we never missed a meal!

The rear deck was a perfect place to dine.

Jane chose her food wisely for she has a dress to wear for their son's wedding on 11/03!

We are standing on the top row of the theater.

A beautiful gal, beautiful purple flowers -- they go together!

Yum, yum

Yum, yum

 I see they gave us English speaking folks Pizza and Sandwiches as a tease to dine here.

Anywhere you dig, ruins are found.  Right behind this church they put in a shovel and found this.

They believe it is a theater dating back to 500 BC

A topside view.

Notice the walls.

Many buildings do not have stucco and they can tell by the rock when the building was constructed.

Many buildings have stucco coatings.

The area is arid.  Rain fall is very low, all sorts of cacti dominate the hillsides.

Di liked this plant.

Looking over the Mediterranean

This is the largest and newest dig dating in the early 2nd century AD.

Theater was popular, keep the natives occupied was the emperor's goal.

Roman Empire 2nd century

They sure did like their columns!

They figured out how to make bricks!

Entry to the theater.

On a clear day you can see Etna from here. 

I can't pass up cool looking flowers!

All kids like to run!

Some would rather ride a 4 wheeled cycle.

Romans like towers too!

Next stop --> Amalfi and Positano