Day 94 - Naxos, Sicily, Italy

 

Date:  April 12

 

Location:  Day 94 – Naxos, Sicily, Italy 

 

Next Port:  Sorrento, Italy, April 13

 

Quick Summary:  Naxos is the pretty seaside town fronting the bay at the base of the ancient cliff-top village of Taormina. Overlooking the picturesque coastline of southeastern Sicily is the smoking volcano of Mount Etna. We enjoyed many contrasts during a beautiful spring day.

 

Report:  Larry was on deck to watch the sunrise as the Voyager approached the small harbor of Naxos at the base of snow-covered, 10,800 ft., Mt. Etna. He was joined by Karen for a brisk morning walk as Capt. Dag dropped anchor off Naxos. Our sunny breakfast on the aft veranda with the picturesque cliff-top village of Taormina and Mt. Etna in the background was one of the nicest of our trip.

 

At about 9:00 am, we took one of the first tenders across to Naxos for our tour of Taormina and Mt. Etna. The drive along the narrow Naxos harbor front and the climb to Taormina was quite spectacular in itself. There were several gorgeous vistas off the coastline and cliff-top villas in the early morning sunshine.

 

Taormina is a very well-preserved medieval city…though it was first inhabited by the Greeks more than 2,500 years ago. The Romans followed, as did many others. Much of the architecture is from the 15th century…with nice city walls and gates, small plazas, fountains, narrow pedestrian streets, etc. At the end of the main shopping street, we climbed a slight rise to the Greek theater that was reconstructed by the Romans in the 2nd century A.D.  From the ruins, we had beautiful views of the bay with the Voyager and of Mt. Etna.

 

After about 75-minutes of free time to wander on our own, we rejoined the bus for the 75-minute drive up Mt. Etna. We climbed through several charming villages, and past summer homes, orange and lemon orchards, and vineyards. Then we were into the lava fields. The most recent major eruptions were in 2001-2002, and they destroyed some homes on the upper slopes. Our guide said that most people are more fearful of earthquakes than the volcano. (Karen finds that hard to believe.)  We did see many small shrines to Mary in the sides of homes for protection from the flows.  As we continued to climb, we soon were in patches of snow. At the 6,500 foot level, the road ended at four restaurants situated around a cable car and three cinder craters.

 

What contrasts…from seaside tropical vegetation to black cinders and snow. From Greek and Roman ruins to a cable car system that has been rebuilt four times due to lava flows during the lifetime of our guide.

 

We had an Italian lunch in a new restaurant – the previous one was buried a couple of years ago under 30 feet of lava. After lunch we walked around the rim of the Silvestri Crater, made snowballs and enjoyed the views down the flanks of Mt, Etna to the sea and to the snow fields above us.

 

We arrived back at the ship at about 5:00 and departed Naxos at 6:00, heading toward the Strait of Messina…the narrow 1.7 mile body of water that separates Sicily from the Italian mainland.

 

We passed through the Strait in the dusk at approximately 7:30. Because of the low light it was difficult to get a photo of the entire opening showing both sides. Larry did manage to get a shot of the large ferries that ply back and forth.

 

The passage by the Stromboli volcano at 10:00-10:30 was a bust. Internet passages such as this had us all excited:

 

As long as there are historical records, Stromboli has been constantly active, which makes it almost unique among the volcanoes in the world. Most of its activity consists of brief and small bursts of glowing lava fragments to heights of 100-200 m above the craters. Occasionally, much stronger explosions or periods of more continuous activity can occur. The most violent eruptions during the past 100 years, in 1919, 1930 and on 5 April 2003 were large enough to take lives and or destroy property even at considerable range from the craters.

 

Stromboli has been quite active during thelast five years, popping off every 20 minutes or so. We could see the dark cone looming in the clear sky and passed through a cloud of sulfur, but no activity.

 

(Later Mario, the art director, told us he was onboard last October and saw red lava flowing into the sea and great clouds of steam.)

 

Oh, well, we guess it proves that even on a world cruise you can have some disappointments. But it still was a great day...Taorima was grand and Mt. Etna was a blast.

 

Karen and Larry

 

Photos of our cruise are available at the following web site:

 

picasaweb.google.com/larryworldcruise

 

Photos of our visit to Sicily have been added.