Mediterranean Mosaic Day one and two

Cruise Day one and two.

We flew out of St. Louis airport, a direct flight to Rome. We left St. Louis at 5 pm and landed in Rome 10 hours later. It was a VERY long day since a) we really didn't go to bed the night before given the fact that we had not made any attempts to pack in advance and b) we drove to KC Tuesday morning to catch a flight to St. Louis to save us from driving.

Yada, Yada, we land in Rome, wait for our luggage (it took 2 hours) and bus over to the port to board the boat. The cruise line was Holland America and it was AMAZING. Highly recommend. It was probably around 4 by the time we finally board. That first night we just perused the boat, scouting out the pools and bars. We left port around 7pm and docked the next morning bright (and I mean bright...the sky's were the bluest of blues and always cloudless) and early at Naxos, Sicily.

History on Naxos: It was the first Greek colony in Sicily. It has been inhabited without interruption from 7735BC to present. In ancient times Naxos was the largest and most fertile island in Cyclades, known for its wine and the worship of Dionysos. Naxos is also home Europe's largest active volcano Mt. Etna's, which we could see from our boat. The Majestic Mt. Etna at 11,000 ft. is covered in cones, craters and the remnants of steams of lava. At 6,200 ft, you can see the 1983 lava flow. We shuttled from Naxos to Taormina. Taormina is situated high on Mount Tauro, overlooking the calm lonian sea, with delightful medieval character. This town dates back to 39AC. Taormina is a charming and popular resort town. We walked down the bustling main street of Corso Umberto, which is lined with former mansions with enchanting architecture and balconies that brim with flowers. We toured a Greek-Roman Theatre that is the towns most visited historical site, it dates back to the 2nd and 3rd centuries BC and still hosts performances today.

Make a Smilebox slideshow