Bon Voyage, Italy!

We're on our way to Trieste to board the brand new MSC Seaside for our 21 day cruise to Miami, then HOME! MSC has provided transportation from Venice to the cruise port. It was a relaxing trip from Marco Polo Airport to the cruise terminal. We arrived in Trieste early afternoon and were able to in process and actually check in to our cabin. The vast majority of the cruisers had not boarded so we were able to tour the ship, grab lunch at the Market Place (the buffet), and rest a bit before we ventured out into Trieste.

Our first port was Messina, Sicily. As part of our cruise package, we had three shore excursions chosen by MSC. Our first shore excursion was to Mt. Etna, an active volcano. Chuck and I didn't plan well for this excursion. A light jacket for fine for the port area, but be neglected to take into account that it would be much colder in the mountains. Maybe because it was a volcano, we thought it would be warmer. No matter, it was bitterly cold and there was snow on the ground. There was one restaurant close to the lava fields and at least 20 buses of tourists were there. It was a madhouse. We walked around for about 5 minutes, then got back on the bus until it was time to leave. We were able to see Mt. Etna belch some smoke on our return trip, which apparently doesn't happen often. When we returned to the ship and cleared security, we headed to dinner. However, we were 10 minutes late so we weren't served. Okay, Plan B: we went to Deck 8 to the Market Place. All that was available was pizza, hamburgers, and hotdogs. The more extensive buffet didn't open until 7:00 p.m. We were out of luck and we weren't the only ones. There were lots of unhappy cruisers that night.

Our next port of call was Palma de Mallorca. We had no scheduled shore excursions. We decided to leave the ship and walk around the city. Palma de Mallorca is beautiful tropical paradise in the western Mediterranean with Moorish influences. We enjoyed strolling the palm tree lined streets and indulged in cappuccinos at a little outdoor cafe. It was very pleasant to sit in the sun and be warm again. 

After a lovely day of wandering the streets and perusing the open air market of Palma de Mallorca, we made our way back to our ship to cruise to our next port of call: Barcelona.