Today was our first formal day because it started out with a guided tour of the city. Our first stop was at the Archeological Museum. Our guide was very good because she only hit the highlights and she was smart enough to know that we had to get it all in before the bus loads of kids started arriving for their tours.

One of the most important exhibits in this museum is of the Greek Riace Warriors. Before we went into see them we basically had to walk into a sealed room and be decontaminated for about 5 minutes. It was a bit creepy. These two Greek warriors were cast of bronze in approximately 450 BC. The statues were found in the sea in 1972 off the coast of Calabria. It took almost 9 years for them to be restored and open for view to the public. Apparently there is some debate about how they were found but the most accepted story is they were found by a snorkeler who originally thought it was a dead body. Our group was very lucky to be the first and only ones in the room that day to see these amazing statues.

After finishing our tour of the museum we took a walk along the Promanade that is on the Strait of Messina that separates Calabria and Sicily. Beautiful views and great people watching. We also finally saw a view of Mt. Etna even though our past hotel had been almost on top of it.

On our walk we stopped at the Basilica of Reggio Calabria. I have been in a lot of Churches over the years. This one is definitely in the top five.

I finished off the day with these wonderful dishes.

And off to bed in this wonderful room.

Tomorrow off to the medieval town of Gerace.