2009 Ports of Call 66 - 69

 

Click on this link and you will be directed to pictures of all 2009 trips.

 

Greece:  Peloponnese

Oct 6 - 9

 

We saw two beautiful sunrises during this primarily calm 205 mile/20 hour journey from Milos to the west coast of the Peloponnese.  That’s the gigantic peninsula south of the mainland, although you could call it an island since the Corinth Canal cut it from the mainland.

 

Katapolo was our port, which is truly a cruise ship town.  It has only tourist-type stores which close when the cruise ships leave.  However, it is only 25 miles from Ancient Olympia, site of the first Olympic Games.  They don’t know when the games actually started, but finds in the area show inhabitation as early as 5000 years ago.  Also, games took place and then stopped for many years until around 776 BC, the King of Elis revived them due to an injunction of the Delphic Oracle.  They lasted for 1168 years, until 393 AD.  A Frenchman revived the games in 1896, with Athens as the first host.  Since 1936 the Olympic Flame has been lit at the Temple of Hera, oldest structure in Ancient Olympia, by the rays of the sun using a mirror.  An aerial tour of the site would probably be more impressive since it is so big.

 

To leave Greece we had to go 10 miles by car to another town to pay 88 Euro cents tax.  Bureaucracy gone mad!

Italy:  Sicily Island

Oct 10 - 17

 

It was a great 300 mile/30 hour trip to Sicily.  The bright stars reflected on the flat water and the Milky Way stretched from horizon to horizon.  We slept in shifts and arrived rested.

 

Messina is a busy port, has grand buildings and statues, but otherwise ugly; we left in a car.  Taormina is Sicily’s most famous resort town.  It’s on a cliffside and has a huge Greco-Roman theater with views to the sea and Mount Etna, an active volcano.  A drive through the Nebrodi & Madonie Mountains followed by the western wine country (Italy’s largest) was the prettiest.  We stopped at Corleone for lunch where the police escorted us out of town (to show us the way).  We went to Selinunte to find a hotel and found it has the largest archaeological park in Europe; we saw a temple and the sea from our room.  Then more wine country, a walk through Salemi, a stop in Segesta to photograph the best preserved Greek temple in the world (above), to Monreale to admire the cathedral, to Palermo for a 3-hour traffic jam, and back to Monreale to find a hotel .  More mountain driving and walking through towns of Cefalu, Castelbuono, and Pollina.

 

Sicily’s sites are best viewed from a distance.  You see lush green land and hilltop villages without dirt, concrete, & graffiti.

Italy:  Toe of Italy - Season Ends

Oct 17 - 29

 

In the Messina Straits we had our first engine trouble; they would not stay in gear. It was frightening to lose control where two seas meet and create strong currents!  After some fiddling, she stayed in gear at a higher speed than we wanted, but we didn’t touch the lever and changed port of destination to the town we were due to ship out of in 10 days.  We headed to a private yacht club and tied up over the members’ objections due to our size.  Then the Coast Guard let us tie up across the harbor until the gear levers were fixed.  At this point we’d had enough cruising and stayed until The Prize loaded on the 28th, delayed one day.

 

In the meantime, we had wonderful experiences with the local people who were very friendly and helpful, in spite of minimal common language.  The President of the yacht club checked on us daily, gave us keys to the club for internet access, took us shopping and to dinner with his extended family twice.  Richard and Johanne were not needed so they went home early.  We rented a car and toured Italy’s “toe” and got The Prize ready for her journey to the States.

 

Loading day was long but safe, ending with a six-hour drive to Naples for a flight home to London on the 29th.