Good morning

Two years ago we drove down the boot of Italy, took the ferry across to Messina in Sicily and arrived in Taormina faster than we cruised from Naples to Messina last night. It seems the rain showers accompanied us on our slow sail. Outside everything looks dark and gloomy and I hear over the loudspeaker passengers being warned to take care on slippery decks.

Although at the moment curling up in bed with a book sounds like a good idea we are instead off on another walking tour for a few hours of Messina. Out come the rain jackets and umbrellas...even our crazy golf rain hats. Oh well we will see if it is still pelting down at 10:30 am our civilized meeting time with our local guide.
 
 
We have already driven up to Mount Etna and stayed for a few days in lovely Taormina on previous trips so we thought we would just check out the port of Messina. The folks we had lunch with yesterday said they were going on a tour of the locations where the film the Godfather was shot. That sounds like an interesting option.

At breakfast we watched a ship named "Boat Refugee Foundation" escorted into port and tie up just down the way. All standing and sitting spaces seemed to be filled. On the dock tents with red crosses on them stood at the ready.

You can't help wondering what will become of these refugees who appear to be probably from North Africa and how many times has the Boat Refugee Foundation ship been out in the Mediterranean and returned with a boat full of rescued refugees. This is one real face of the migrant/refugee issue facing European countries...today in Italy. It took the day for processing with the tents going down just as we sailed away.

Migrants/refugees are topics of conversation on the ship and most Brits (and Aussies) realize it is a very fraught problem, but are tremendously concerned about how their social services, like national health care, can absorb the numbers arriving in Europe without going bankrupt. This at a time of an aging population.
 
It turned out to be a fine day and we are sitting in a "pub" with even more dodgy wifi than the ship. We have visited the Plazza Municipal, we have visited three cathedrals and climbed the 142 stairs to the look out over the city from the Sanctuary of Montalto. There we found a statue of Pope John II, positioned in 1988 when he visited Messina...he seemed to be blessing our arrival. In fact no matter where you are in the city you definitely know the Emerald Princess is in port.

Gary calls Messina the city of virgins and earthquakes. Despite Mary now being the patron saint of the city...she stretches her arms out at the entrance to the Harbour...it has in general a history of losses stretching over the centuries.

Like much Sicily it was found by the Greeks. A brief peaceful period it must have been since the city was sacked successively by the Carthaginians and the Mamertines, protected for a time by the Romans and then more sackings by the Goths, the Byzantine Empire, the Arabs in 802, the arrival of the Normans in 1061 and finally in 1189 the English King Richard stepped ashore. Apparently the city reached the peak of its " splendour" during the 17th century. Independence for the city was a luxury never really experienced.

Then in 1743 the plague took 48,000 inhabitants. Fifty years later an earthquake devastated the city. Rebuilding the city took decades and decades. During the festival in December 28, 1908 a second earthquake hit, this time accompanied by a tsunami. Much of the ancient city fell and 100,000 were killed. The population today is only about 280,000 so that gives an idea just what an impact 1908 must have been to the city and its inhabitants. Just as the finishing touches were being made in the 1908 reconstruction the city suffered further damage during the massive Allied bombardments of 1943. 
 
 
 
The Duoma was one of the central buildings reconstructed twice during the 20th century. It now boasts a magnificent bell tower with what Sicilians claim is the biggest astronomic clock in the world. We were there at noon to watch all the doors open, the rooster crow, the diplomats bearing offerings to Mary circle around and finally Marry blessing the massed tourists below...all the while Ava Maria was playing. Given the history of Messina I am not quite sure how the Madonna has maintained her status as a protector. The clock and mechanical windows reminded us of the astronomical clock in Prague...the Messina one was built by the Ungerer brothers from Strasburg. 
 

We enjoyed our tour with Sara who attends the University of Messina (which was founded in1584 by Ignatius of Loyola as the first Jesuit College to be established anywhere). She told us the refugees we saw this morning would be housed in dorms at the university and then dispersed to different locations...hopefully she said to Northern Europe.

I guess all you Shakespeare fans who regularly attend Bard on the Beach already know Much Ado About Nothing and Anthony and Cleopatra are both set in Messina. But then our Bard on the Beach productions of Shakespeare plays are as likely to be set in 2007 in New York as in Messina.

I am going to sign off...our beer is done and this may or may not go up on the Internet with photos...very spotty all around.

Onto new waters and the Suez Canal...must get reading quickly. I am only on page 33 of Parting the Desert: The Creation of the Suez Canal. I like to be a knowledgeable traveller so must put my head down...

Ciao...hope all is well with you
Doreen