Day 16 - BA5 takes the lead
Winery at Villa San Michele…
San Michelle Winery with Mt. Etna in the background…before the February 2021 eruption…
7/7/22. Thursday Day 8 on Cruise
7:00 - 8:45-We’re on the island of Sicily today! More specifically, we’re docked in Messina, a harbor city in northeast Sicily. Today’s excursion is called Wine Tasting at Villa San Michele and the meeting place is the Escape Theater at 9:15. I’m up early so I have time for my protein breakfast…basically, I’ve fallen into a routine, eating bacon and eggs at the Garden Cafe Buffet in the morning, with coffee and a splash of…Mimosa :) I’m on vacation - don’t judge me.
8:45-9:15 - L and I meet S&M outside our cabin and we walk to the excursion meeting place. My Mom is sitting this one out. After Three Cities and a Funeral, I can’t say I blame her.
It’s official…many of the passengers are sick. 1/3 of the people in the Escape Theater are coughing - even more than yesterday - but they refuse to self-quarantine because ‘We’re going to get our money’s worth, damn it, and to hell with everybody else.’ Like yesterday, the coughing appears to be moving from right to left…could the virus be jumping from person to person that fast? I have such little exposure to the news while I’m on cruise that I don’t know Covid’s status currently; however, it makes sense that it would spread like wildfire amongst the 4266 passengers who temporarily reside on this floating tin can with no Covid protocol to speak of. Social distancing went out the window a long time ago and I doubt it was ever practiced on cruise ships. We’re all on top of each other. Of course, I’m masked - so is L. **Note: The Escape is designed to provide accommodations for 4,266 passengers, including a crew of 1,733.
9:30-11:30 - On the bus and it’s a 90-minute ride from Messina to the San Michelle Estate, which is located in the village of Santa Venerina. If that doesn’t mean anything to you, this might - the San Michelle Estate is built on the eastern slope of Mt. Etna, a volcano with a “continuous activity” advisory. Mt. Etna erupted in February 2021, but has since settled down. In November 2022, Mt. Etna will start erupting again, but we will be long gone by then.
I’m masked, per usual.
L. and I don’t see too much of S&M on this excursion…
We have two “sightings” on the bus ride:
Sighting #1: While stopped at a gas station, L. and I enter and see…tampons?! OMG! Uh, no. Turns out it was a false sighting - there is not a tampon to be found on Mt. Etna.
Sighting #2: The bus pulls over so we can get out and look at a big pile of ash. Plant the flag…we’re on Mt. Etna!?…uh, sort of. It’s only the ash from Mt. Etna; the volcano is actually 500 miles away from Villa San Michelle. Seeing the ash is still interesting, though.
I like this part of the tour although it is unbelievably hot. A little girl, around 7, starts asking her Mom for her hat as soon as she gets off the bus because the sun feels like a laser, boring directly into our scalps. It must be the elevation because I’ve never experienced a sensation like this before.
11:30-1:00 - We finally arrive. The bus parks at the bottom of a small mountain and we’re expected to climb the treacherous steps to the top of Villa San Michelle, with wine tasting serving as our reward. The steps are steep, but once we get to the top, the view is incredible - we’re overlooking tree tops! It’s nice and cool, the hor'dourves are quite good, and…[drum roll, please]…they have champagne!! And it’s good champagne! I will say that this is one of my favorite excursions and not just because alcohol is involved. The location is so beautiful…too bad it’s a FOUR-hour round trip.
1:00-3:30 - We board the bus and get back into port around 3:30. I’m near “tampon critical mass” in that I’ve inserted my last one today and only because I happened to find it at the bottom of my purse (it was still wrapped - I’m not that gross). L. and I make the executive decision to venture into town, on foot, to try and scout out where the tampons might be hiding. We find a grocery store and there is one small box of tampons [12], sitting alone, on an empty shelf - I grab it! The tampons retail for $7 but I don’t care…this box is “cotton gold!” I could sell the tampons, individually, on the black market, for $20 a piece…but I’d rather keep them all for myself.
3:30-6:00 - Success! L. and I report back to our cabin and I sit on the balcony and continue reading With Teeth.
6:00-8:00 - We meet S&M and Mom outside our cabin and walk to Taste? Savor? Mary is still coughing. My Mom mentions that she (Mom) was feeling tired over the past couple days, but, after skipping this excursion, feels much better today. Dinner, as always, is excellent.
L. and I return to our cabin and she leaves to spend the rest of the evening with Colin. What exactly are they doing? I don’t think I want to know. L. doesn’t return until after midnight and when she does, she reveals that several of Colin’s relatives are sick and tested positive for Covid using the PCR Rapid Antigen tests that they brought with them on cruise. They’ve told no one, but are doing the responsible thing by self-quarantining, which means exactly FOUR out of 4200 passengers give a s—t about the rest of us. You can bet that nobody else is self-quarantining on this boat.