Not a brilliant sleep but no rush to get up anyway. We thought that we'd be passing the active volcano again this morning at around 8am. As it was on the starboard side a couple of nights ago, it was fairly reasonable to expect it to be on the port side today. I hopped out of bed and opened the curtains to see – sea!
We eventually gave up waiting to see land and headed up for a bite to eat – just as we were passing the volcano – yup, on the starboard side…
As we weren't due in Messina until 12 noon, a cooked breakfast was in order, as we were told that nothing would be open in town anyway.
We went to trivia, and joined up with another couple – but still didn't win.
We let the masses pile off the ship once we had docked downtown, but our table friends totally ignored us as we waved when they passed right under us. Our cabin was right opposite the two impressive mounted statues/sculptures. (Apparently, they are made out of papier mache.)
Once out of the secure area, we crossed the road and queued for tickets for the HO-HO bus. This wasn't a double decker but did have a canvas roof if the weather turned grubby. These open topped buses are now referred to as "BBQ buses". Fortunately, it was reasonably overcast. The €14 fare was for a relatively short 50 minute trip, taken at a very leisurely pace, as there was very little traffic. Unlike say Singapore or Dubai or other major cities, Messina only offered a couple of places to hop off/on anyway and no one got off other than to take pics at the half-way break, at the top of the hill whilst the driver had a fag.
Not exactly an exciting or particularly interesting tour as far as they go, but it did give us a look around the place.
When we'd done the full lap, we walked back to the central square area where they were preparing for the evening's parade and entertainment. They were testing the 50,000 watt sound system which was extremely uncomfortable. Most of the stalls seemed to be selling roasted nuts or sweets, but virtually none were covered. I struggled to establish a price for a wrapped almond toffee bar, but weighing it and eventually establishing the woman wanted an extortionate €7, I declined. No doubt it would have been cheaper for a local, as no stall had prices displayed.
We didn't find an eatery that appealed and decided the ship's excellent pizza would be a good choice. Maybe we should have consulted our watches first, as when we got back on board, we'd overlooked the 2pm closing time! Drat. A light lunch instead.
The internet was extremely slow, though our outstanding minutes were intact, though others had experienced problems logging in earlier and had lost their credited minutes when the system was down.
Sailaway was supposed to be 7pm, but a report of a swimmer in the area behind the ship, (probably from the guy in the blue polo shirt) had the port officials, coastguards, armed police, port police and ship's crew, looking for a swimmer (Mafia body?) for an hour, before we could safely sail. Meanwhile, the ship was docked between the congregating shore crowds and the (daylight!) firework display around the harbour monument!
We opted for our normal dining at 7:45pm only to find we had a new assistant waiter – who is also with shaven head and wearing glasses, as Vincent has been promoted (on probation) as a full waiter, but upstairs in the other dining room.
The dinner menus now start to be recycled as there are only so many in the system.
We headed for the 9:45pm show in the theatre – "Around the World in Music" by Naki Aterman, a pianist with support from the orchestra's bass player and drummer.
A non-stop performance for 45 minutes with no verbal intro and a running theme of "Around the World in 80Days" in different tempos and featuring tunes from many countries and a slide show behind him. I was impressed not only with the piano but also Matt on drums, who had to sight read the drum part, and play the triangle. Only on a ship or as a session musician would you read music that difficult. An 8/10, as not applauding or shuffling for 45 minutes, is a bit tough on the spine.
Clocks FORWARD again tonight but we still crashed at about 11:30pm original time.
A crucial sea day tomorrow as from then on, seven ports in seven days, so writing and posting blogs will be a struggle, but I'll do my best…
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