We docked at Messina, Sicily just before 7 a.m. today and met our tour guide at 8:30. (All this getting up early takes some getting used to for a non-morning person like me!) We went up into the hills outside of town to Savoca and Forza d’Agro, two small towns used during the filming of The Godfather and The Godfather III. Savoca was the site of Bar Vitelli, which is where Michael Corleone and his bodyguards sat for a drink after he saw the Sicilian girl who he ended up marrying. The girl’s father was the bar owner. The outside of one of the churches in Savoca was used as the place where Michael and his bride were married. The procession started there and led back down the hill into town.
Next we drove to Foza d’Agro, where scenes from the third film were shot. The cathedral there was the scene of the Sicilian wedding. The scenery was beautiful up in the mountains though there’s not any industry. Most people have to drive into Messina or the neighboring tourist town of Taormina to find work. The streets are very narrow – barely one car wide – and at one point when a car wanted to pass through our group we all flattened ourselves against the building to allow it to pass! It was also interesting to see the ruins of the castellanos from afar. These were small castles positioned every 20 miles or so along the coast. Being an island meant Sicily was bait for invaders. The castellanos served as relay stations so that if one spotted trouble, there was always another castellano within signaling distance who could send reinforcements.
Our tour guide, Flavia, brought us back to the ship where we grabbed a quick lunch. Since we had more time, we walked around Messina for two hours searching for internet access but never did find it. We decided that would be an awesome business to start right in the port area.Tomorrow’s another day off. It’s our last one as we gear up for three ports in a row and the flight home.
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