Month: May 2024

This cathedral is located in Messina, Sicily. It was originally built in the 12th century, but it was destroyed by an earthquake in 1783. The current cathedral was built in the 19th century in a Neoclassical style. It is known for its astronomical clock, which features bronze statues that move at noon.

Here is quick background to set the scene for our photos:

• Ancient Greeks (8th-3rd centuries BC): Established Taormina, building the iconic Greek Theatre you likely saw.Commerce thrived then, with shops likely selling imported goods and local crafts.
• Romans (3rd century BC – 5th century AD): Expanded the theatre and possibly the marketplace. Shops may have catered to a Roman clientele, offering luxury items and everyday necessities.
• Arab rule (9th-11th centuries AD): Introduced new influences. Shops might have displayed spices, fabrics, and intricate metalwork.
• Medieval Period (11th century onwards): The town transitioned through Norman and Spanish rule. Shops likely reflected a mix of cultures, with workshops for local crafts alongside imported goods.

Today, Taormina’s shops are a vibrant blend of modern boutiques, souvenir shops selling traditional Sicilian crafts, and cafes lining the charming streets. Our photos must capture a fascinating journey through time!

We have arrived in the city of Valletta. This island seems to be much nicer city a bigger island. as we did not have an excursion, we got off the porch and then was solicited for a hop on and a hop off bus for €50.

Yesterday’s adventure was like visiting Greek ghettos Olympia, Greece. One striking difference between this city and the others is the amount of vegetation that came natural to the area. The area seems to have more trees and much more dense vegetation than the other areas that we have seen so far on the trip. The natural beauty is there. It’s just the economy of this area makes The city looked depressing. We see signs of graffiti and other clues like run down buildings, abandoned buildings and the such that we believe that the economy is not doing so well.

The day started 8:30 AM., with a tour of the island. got on the bus and then took a tour of the island ended up at a church took some photos and then ended up at a coffee restaurant and sample some of their donuts then we got back on the bus and then got to the downtown area where they let us loose, then took the ferry back to the Ship.

Today was quite the fun day, Gretchen and I took a tour to the ancient city of Athens, Greece.

we are awaiting our tinder boat. No tinder boat is not the same thing as tender dating website. With the anticipation building, our boat is number 20. We have a winery tour, and we are ready to see Santorini Greece.

A Japanese grill on the Norwegian.

A Airsonic-Advance server has been created. This is still in development mode, however the server is up and running, and location is http://globalsync.site:4040/login . Future plans is to stick the server on a subdomain and have the traffic encrypted, which requires me to create a reverse proxy on Apache web-server. For now we do have functionality. I have 72 songs on Gretchen’s parents request, and we have about 20 in our directory. We are still trying to figure the correct song to walk down the aisle.