So we set off for Reggio. It was about 1.5-2hrs drive from Lamezia to Reggio. Reggio is a pretty nice place I must say..... But it was not warmer than Lamezia....
on our way to Reggio. That's Messina on Sicily
Round about in Reggio
When we reached Reggio, it was close to lunch time. So we ate Gelato with bread. I'm not an ice-cream fan... but i must say the gelato was something to die for.... hahaha... its really fantastic... i must say i can swoon over it...it was really one of the best ice-creams I've tried in my life.... i think Ben and Jerry's can't even beat the Italian gelato. oops... not to offend Ben & Jerry's. Anyway, apparently we were allowed to choose 3 different flavors. I had a hard time choosing coz there were so many flavors and they were so colourful! finally i made my choices.... and the shop owner was really nice... he took a spoon and scoop 1 mouthful of super rich chocolate ice-cream. Wow! really really rich... and super fantastic! Francesca asked me why did I not pick any chocolate flavoured ice-cream.... I told her I like chocolate... but have such a huge scoop of ice-cream... i think not...(anyway i was afraid of getting ice with over-dosage of choco coz I've been eating lots of rich food for the past 1 wk).
Street where we sat on a bench and had our gelatos
Whilst we were eating our gelatos with bread, in front of us was a parked MPV. a family was sitting inside the car licking and eating their gelatos. Emanuel told me its typical Italian family eating gelatos in the car. hahaha....After our gelatos, we walked to the place where the bronzes were supposed to be placed. They were supposed to be in the museum 'Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia. However, this museum was undergoing some restructing.... hence the bronzes were transferred to a municipal building in Reggio where they are being housed temporary.
Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia. 1 old man is sitting at the balcony smoking
Residential site of Reggio. hahaha... look at the huge amount of rubbish. Pretty similar to the scene I've seen in Mumbai (oops =P)
Municipal building where the bronzes are housed temporary
I could not take pictures of the bronzes coz apparently they were undergoing some sort of maintanence. Anyway they were not in a good position for me to take pictures... they were both lying down. Yeah it was a disappointment.... But i must say the artist who did them did a fantastic job! Coz really if you look at the sculptures carefully, you can see that the artist had tried to mimic them as real human bodies. coz for me, who has no artistic skills nor eye for the art could tell. you can see things like veins potruding on the hands, ankles facial muscles, limbs muscles etc. As I was not able to take a picture of them, I've tried to copy a picture from somewhere and place it here......
The Riace Warriors
The lady was nice enough to play a tape that was in english for me so that I could understand how the bronzes came about. apparently, they were discovered in 1978 by a chemist when he was snorkeling near to Riace's cost. The archeologists believe that they suspposed to be transported from Greece to Italy. And due to unknown reasons they fell into the sea. These 2 bronzes are examples of ancient Greek sculptures. in fact until today, the sculptor is unkown... they said that the sculptures were done by different artists.
Walkway in front of the sea in Reggio
Sun setting behind Mt Etna
After viewing the sculptures, we headed to Messina. This is a town on Sicily. It is the nearest town to main land Italy. Emanuel parked his car at the harbor and we walked to the ferry. coz if we were to drive the car up the ferry, it will cost about 40€ to get to Messina. It was about 30min on the ferry from Reggio to Messina. Very fast.... soon we were there...
Ferry that we took to get across to Messina
Lots of cars on the ferry despite the high cost
in Messina
Porto di Messina
We took the tram to the Cathedral of Messina. According to Emanuel and Francesca, this cathedral was unique. It vell tower holds one of the largest astronomical clocks in the whole world. Emanuel and Francesca told me that at 12, the clock will sound and the figures in the bell tower will move.... and the last time when they brought Francesco here, he was astounded by the movements of the figures....And the interior of the church was also very majestic....
The famous bell tower with the huge astronomical clock
inside the cathedral
Altar of the Cathedral
Ceiling of the cathedral
After viewing the church, we headed for dinner. Emanuel and Francesca wanted to bring me to eat unique Sicilian food. hahaha.... I also did not know what was unique Sicilian food until we were at the eatery. Apparently you can find the food anywhere in Sicily. I must say the food was good! 
this is fried rice ball that was mixed with tomato sauce, meat and cheese. Followed by deep frying it
Baked bread wraps with pipping hot filling
pizzas on display. they are for sale
a unique tree we saw on our way to the dessert shop
After our dinner, its dessert time! hahaha.... before i came to Italy, Francesca kept telling me about how good the desserts are in Sicily. Sicily is very famous for their Canolis! Yup! so we tried to, or rather Emanuel and Francesca kept their eyes open for pastry shops. Coz apparently every pastry shop sells canoli and many other nice Sicilian cakes. Finally we saw 1. I must say i was totally awed by the colourful cakes! When the canoli came, I was even more awed by it! hahaha... the size! coz I've seen the canolis in the pastry shop in Rome and they are no where in the same size as the real Sicilian canolis i saw in front of me! much bigger.... i took a picture before i ate it. I must say, it tasted fantastic!
Sicilian canolis. They were humongous!
Colourful cakes on display and sale
Almond covered cakes
After our dessert, it was back to the harbor to take the ferry back to mainland.... and a long drive back to Lamezia. When we reached the harbor, we missed the ferry, so had to waited a little for the next ferry. We were told that we had to wait for about 40min. Surprisingly, the next ferry came 15min later! Anyway we reached Emanuel & Francesca's place around 11.45pm. This had been a long day indeed.... but I must say long day but an eventful day! =D
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