Once we left Civitavechhia, we set sail for Messina, Sicily and arrived there on our second day of the cruise. Before we pulled into port John and I woke up to our breakfast being delivered to our room. The night before, we filled out the form for room service around an hour and half before we were supposed to pull into Messina. Breakfast arrived right on time and John and I enjoyed eating while sitting on our balcony enjoying the view. By that time in the cruise we could see the "toe" of Italy.
This was the first view we saw that morning, Stromboli, one of the top three most active volcano's in Italy.
Sunrise before getting to Sicily 
Reggio Calabria, the "toe" of Italy 
Strait of Messina, the 3 miles of water separating Italy and Sicily. It is also known by the locals as the liquid train. 
Pretty Blue Water
Once we finished breakfast we headed back in so we could get ready for our fun filled day. We finished getting ready and still had a little bit of time before we were supposed to head to our meeting point, so we headed up to one of the outside decks to walk around. While we were up top, we were finally pulling into the Port of Messina, so John and I stayed up there until we were all tied up and ready to disembark.Port of Messina
Messina, Sicily 
Enjoying the view
Messina, Sicily
Getting docked
Life Preserver 
After docking we headed to the room to grab everything we were going to need for the day and headed to our meeting point so we could head out on our tour. We booked all of our tours through Royal Caribbean and were very pleased with every single one of them. The tour we booked in Messina was a Mt. Etna Wine Tasting along with a couple of other stops along the way. After going to our meeting point, we were given a sticker with a number on it, and the number corresponded with the bus we were on. After everyone in the group was there, we headed out with our tour escort to meet our tour guide and bus driver. Once we were all on the bus we headed out to our first stop of the tour which was the town of Taormina, Sicily.
The first view we had after getting to Taormina
What is left of the original wall around the city
We went into this small church and there was this huge setup and it is all out of cork
The new wall around the city
Walking around Taormina
S. Nicola Cathedral
Fountain in front of the cathedral
One of the lookout views in the town
All the boats enjoying the sun
Pretty views 
Love my arches!!
Saracen Castle ~ Built on a hill overlooking the town of Taormina
Cool vases on a fun side street
Watching all the boats
Greek Theater
Once we left Taormina we headed up the side of Mt. Etna to see a couple of old Lava Flows. The first flow we saw was from the bus and it was from the 1772 eruption. The next flow we came to, we actually stopped at and were able to walk around on and get some pictures. This flow was from 1992.View of the 1992 Lava Flow, the flow went all the way up to that house and destroyed part of his orchard but didn't get to his house.
Walking around on the lava
Standing on old Lava, reminds me of us on the Big Island
This house wasn't so lucky
We were only at the lava river for a few minutes before we loaded back on the bus and headed to our last stop on the tour. This was the part of the tour that everyone was looking forward too, the wine tasting. I don't remember the name of the winery but the area it was at was awesome. While at the tasting we each got to taste 3 of their wines along with many different snacks they had prepared for us. Old Casks
The vineyard, they call it the theater vineyard because it is in the shape of a semi-circle just like the theaters
Getting ready for the wine tasting
The casks they are still using
Walking around in one of the vineyards
Grapes still changing
The wines they had for sell
We had a really good time at the tasting and even met a few other couples that were all there celebrating their anniversary as well. Once we left the winery we headed back down Mt. Etna and were on the road for our 1 1/2 drive back to the port. We got back to the boat about 6:00pm and had to hurry and get ready for dinner. That night on the boat was our first formal night. John and I ran into a small problem, we had the first dinning time at 6:30 and had just got back on the boat. The first night at dinner we talked to our waiter and asked what the lasted time we could show up would be, he told us as long as we were there by 7:15 they could still serve us. That gave me a little more time to get ready but not a whole lot. I rushed to get ready and we headed out to grab dinner in the dining room.
Our stateroom attendant took a pic of us in the hall on our way to dinner
After dinner
After dinner we walked around the boat for a little while and John headed into the Casino for a little bit. We left the Casino in time to head to the Metropolis Theater for that nights show. The show that night was by the Royal Caribbean Singers and Dancers and was called Ballroom Fever. Studio B (the ice rink) was on the same floor as our dining room so we headed over there to see what it looked like.
Waiting to go into the show
Ballroom Fever
Watching some fun ballroom dancing
After the show John and I headed to our room. Every night when we got to our room on our bed was the Cruise Compass which had everything you needed to know about the next day in it. We read through the Compass to pick out the things we wanted to hit the next day, we figured out what time we needed to be up and at breakfast, then got some sleep. He was waiting on our bed when we got back to the room that night!
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