Mel found a couple during breakfast who was willing to share a taxi to the museum. We did not get into port until noon. They ended up disembarking right behind us so we walked together to get the cab. There were a number of drivers on the pier all saying "Taomina" which is another small town on the island. The drivers we talked to said the museum was closed. So we asked how much to Taomina, but we wanted to stop by the museum just in case. We finally agreed on 25 euros per person and got into the cab. The driver spoke a little bit of English, but not much. I told him we wanted to go to the clock tower first. At noon everyday music plays while Angels and Knights move around in a circle and bow. We arrived in time to see the end of it, good timing. We drove to the museum and it was closed so we headed to Taomina.
Taomina was about 45 minutes away. It is an old roman town built in a cliff 700 feet up from the sea. We were dropped off at one gate and arranged to be picked up in the same place in 1 1/2 hours. We started down the Main Street until we found a Tourist Info office. We got a map of the town and looked around in the office. They had some very old marionettes of Knights and a royal family and a very decorative cart. It had tiny figures all over it including on the wheels. It was nice that we had seen it as in the town we saw ceramics of it as well as paintings and other pictues. It much have been very significant to the town. The Main Street was full of shops and restaurants and especially people! It was quite crowded. We went into several ceramic stores. All the ceramics were made in Sicily. One character caught my eye. It looks like a jester with 3 legs coming out of his head, very odd. I finally asked and found out that it is medusa in the middle, the 3 legs are for the 3 points in Sicily, it is a symbol of the island along with a pine cone and one other that I can't remember. We went into several old churches and onto a square that overlooked the water. We reached the far gate and turned around and went back. Our friends wanted to visit the gardens and I wanted to shop so we separated until meeting back to get the taxi.
On the way back to Messina we asked to be taken up to a WWII Memorial that is on a hill above the city. From there we could get a good view of the city and take pictures. Then we went to a large church on the next hill over. I asked to be dropped at the cathedral next to the clock tower rather than the ship because we still had 1 1/2 hours before all aboard. I had been so focused on seeing the clock tower that I hadn't paid attention to the cathedral next door at all. It had a beautifully carved arch around the main entrance. The inside was a lot plainer than many that we have seen but was nice. Up toward the front I noticed a museum so we went in there. It was very small but held an amazing amount of gold. There was a three dimensional silver picture of the Madonna and child covered with jewelry. The Madonna had on real rings made of gold and gem stones. Another framed piece looked like a shield but when you looked closer it was made up of jewelry that had been donated to the church. There were hundreds of rings, watches, bracelets and chains, quite impressive.
When we went out of the museum and started to head out of the cathedral the huge main doors opened and in came the arm of a crane! There was a small crowd gathered, including 2 priests, so we joined them. I asked the priests if they spoke English to try to find out what was happening. They called over a guide. She told us that the pole at the top of the clock tower had fallen 3 years ago. It had been renovated and was going to be put back in place the next morning. It would stay inside the church overnight. It was pretty exciting to see this huge thing coming in the large door of the cathedral. There was a metal flag with a rooster on it which acts as a weather vane and a very large copper ball. Once it was in place on saw horses, we left the cathedral and headed back to the ship. It was only a few blocks so we were there shortly after 4. It was a short but very enjoyable visit to Sicily.
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