Near the main square (not really square, but that's what I call it) are shops to entice customers. However, we were there in mid-afternoon and most were closed.

This picture shows some of the newer and older buildings in the area.

We walked into St. Catherine's church, right on the square. A single-aisle sanctuary led us to the altar.

Follow up research indicates that no one knows for sure when the church was built. It is thought to date from the 17th century. The duomo is several blocks away, we did not get that far.

This was interesting. A big section of the floor of the church was exposed, showing the original foundation. I did not see a sign or anything to describe what we saw.

Just to the right of St. Catherine's is the Corvaja Palace. It is the tourist office. However, the building dates to the 10th century. They wanted lots of money to enter - we passed on that. In hindsight, we should have gone in.

Taormina is a summer tourist town, there are beaches (unseen by me) and festivals that draw thousands of visitors. At 700 feet above the Ionian Sea, many consider the views a prime reason to be there.

At one point it was considered an 'artist's colony' with D.H. Lawrence and Truman Capote as temporary residents.

Now it is time to look up!

That is Monte Tauro and Castello Saraceno. The castle has a locked gate and no one has been inside for many years. I don't know what the story is there.

On the left side of this photo (barely visible) is Madonna Della Rocca. Again, the views are the draw. We were in town for only 2 hours and did not have the time, nor the energy to walk up (the only way up the hill, unless driving). Bad attitude!

This was our 4th day in a row of being onshore for many hours - and the next day was going to be another long one.

STOP THE PRESSES! I located my note: the town square has a name - Palazzo Corvaia.

As we ate a quick lunch, we saw this cute dog who was having a difficult afternoon. There were pigeons there and not one was going to allow him or her to go after them. The pigeons seemed to know that they were not in dire straits and just kept on strutting around.

This is Temple Votivo de Cristo Re in Messina.

We got back to the ship and rested a bit before locating a bartender willing to take care of us.

Next port - Palermo. I'll tell you now, Palermo is a wonderful place! It was a good day there.

A follow-up note from part 3. I picked up some lava and ash on Etna, as I did on Mt. Teide and the other volcanoes I was on. I also picked up rocks in Alaska and many places in the Caribbean. I can remember where I got all of them. Right now, most are in the top drawer of my dresser. I don't know why I do it, I just do.

You and me, Jim. I had rocks from all over too, most of them were tossed during a weight controlled move, but a few pretty ones and seaglass are in a jar which is used as doorstop.