Messin' round in Messina, Italy

We have successfully embarked onto the Queen Victoria and spent our first night onboard.  The ship is lovely, and the staff very welcoming.  Our cabin has a balcony which is just steps above the lifeboats, and we are just across the passageway from the laundry, and quite near the Grand Lobby.  We were able to unpack and find homes for everything including the Victorian gown.  Last night we left the balcony door open and fell asleep listening to the waves rolling off the ship’s prow.

Today we are in Messina, Sicily.  We walked the town, ate an amazing snack which was we think, deep fried pastry in a tube (imagine cannelloni) filled with sweet ricotta cheese and dusted with milk chocolate shavings.  Truly wonderful.  Made by hand in a local pastry shop.  Yum Yum in our tum tum.  Then we saw an astrological clock – the largest in the world (people were pretty bored here after the war) and hiked up to view the largest bell in Italy and admired the view.

Chad took a fencing lesson (the kind done with a foil and an opponent) and he did not impale himself or others him.   Juli took in an Art lecture, and had a facial.  Tomorrow we are in Malta, and we find out how to make a Maltese Cross.  And no, it does not involve a poodle.

 

This is the golden statue at the entrance to the port as we were leaving tonight.