We docked at Messina then did excursion to see Mt Etna. I went prepared with reversible fleece but even two thirds of the way up Mt Etna it was warm even with a breeze! Our guide Guiseppe gave a long history for Sicily, including raids by Arab pirates but not including anything about the Mafia.

Mount Etna is still very active as volcanoes go. Recent eruptions flattened ski lifts and restaurants which are rebuilt to cope with the visitors. There's a sharp tree line, then where grass is trying to colonise the dark earth, then where its naked rock which has oozed and conglomerated. Some of the trees were dying of a growth.

The food was limited (a ricotta bap) and four of Azura's passengers contracted gastro-enteritis (norovirus) on another excursion in Sicily. These four despite being told to stay in their cabins decided to go round the ship infecting everyone else. As a result the Azura became a plague ship, and restrictions had to be imposed to stop everyone becoming sick. So the staff served you in the buffets, packets of butter and sugar and salt rather than dispensers, more rigorous hand cleansing. I felt for the poor staff who had even more to do.