Good morning, Messina, Sicily!
Last night, we attended the Captain’s Circle Party in the Dome before dinner. We usually skip these events nowadays, but the Loyalty Host, Brendan, called and convinced us to come. We were being recognized as the third most-traveledguests on this segment!
There were two parties scheduled — one at 5:00 p.m. and another at 7:00 p.m. The number one and two guests had already committed to the later event, and Brendan wanted at least one of the top three at the early one. So, we helped him out!
Toward the end of the party, after the Captain’s speech, we were introduced and escorted to the stage for a photo with him.
Afterwards, they held a raffle with three prizes: two bottles of champagne and a collectible model of the ship. Guess who won the ship model? We did! The Captain even assured the audience it wasn’t a “fix.” Our grandsons will love it — they’re both fascinated by boats (their dad manages a yacht sales company). When we returned to our stateroom last night, these were waiting for us. The last thing we need, more food! This morning, Debbie did a load of delicate laundry while I prepped a bag to send out for the ship’s laundry service. Both the laundry rooms and the service will be packed on Saturday, since it’s a big embarkation/disembarkation day in Barcelona.
After getting the laundry squared away, we had a light breakfast in the Restaurant. Then we met up with Stefan, who we had promised to show the best bakery in town for cannoli — Pasticceria Irrera, established in 1910, in Piazza Cairoli.
The piazza also marks the start of a long pedestrian-only shopping street, which happens to be Debbie’s favorite place in Messina. It’s lined with shops, cafés, restaurants, and bakeries — and they absolutely make the best cannoli here! The walk from the ship only takes about 15 minutes. Once we arrived at the bakery, we left Stefan in a sugar coma and continued on to do some shopping. Debbie found a few things, and while the area was pretty quiet at first, it got busier as the morning went on. After logging five miles of walking, we made our way back to the ship for lunch at Alfredo’s Pizzeria, where they serve excellent pizza. After lunch, we stopped by the Sanctuary Club, but it was quite busy and they were finishing up the installation of the new buffet counters — lots of drilling and sawing noise — so we opted for a quiet afternoon streaming Netflix in our stateroom instead.
Tonight, we’ll be dining at the Sanctuary Restaurant, and tomorrow is a sea day as we head toward Mallorca.
