Taormina and Siracusa, Sicily

We spent a delightful few days in Taormina, swimming, snorkelling and sightseeing.  It was a treat to be in clear water with lots of fish about.  The waters around Preveza in Greece are quite turbid and green, not that inviting though we did swim a bit.

Taormina is a hilltop town overlooking the harbour and islands.  The ‘strip’ town along the seafront is Giardini Naxos.  The eight day feast of Mary, culminating in the blessing of the fleet was underway while we were there.  Military bands played in the town square and there were several displays of fireworks at night. 

We took a bus up a steep winding road full of hairpin turns to Taormina.  The views were magnificent but the main street very touristy.  Bob could hear the bongo drums starting in his traumatized brain (a left over reaction from the touristy towns we visited in China) so we went off a side street and started walking up a path which turned out to be a Stations of the Cross trail leading up to a charming church.  It was a hot climb but the views were fantastic and well worth the effort.

 

Back at the anchorage we watched the many moods of Mt Etna.

  

After three days it was time to move south down the coast to Siracusa (or Anglicised – Syracuse).  After a 10 hour motor sail we rounded the point with the ubiquitous fort on the headland.  Siracusa is a sizable city with a large harbour.  We anchored in the late afternoon and had a welcome sundowner while watching the other boats come in.

 

We spent the next week exploring this pretty old city.  In the Cathedral in the beautiful Piazzo Duomo hangs the Caravaggio painting “The Burial of Saint Lucy” – magnificent.  Another square had the impressive fountain of Diana and Arethusa.  We stopped at a café overlooking the fountain and discovered a wonderful refreshing sorbet type drink called Granitas – perfect for the hot days.   

The legend of Arethusa continues with a waterfront fresh water pool and fountain, Fonte Aretusa.  This is supposed to be the place where the nymph, Arethusa emerged from the sea after fleeing her home in Arcadia.  Here grow natural Papyrus plants, the only place in Europe where they grow.

 

Another day we trekked above the city to the Greek and Roman amphitheatres.  Nearby is the limestone cave called the Ear of Dionysius, a name coined by Caravaggio in 1608.  The cave is suppose to have excellent acoustics where even a small sound resonates throughout the cave.  Bob gave a loud ‘Cooeee’ but it didn’t make much of an effect.

 

 

On the way we passed the ultra-modern Santuario della madonna delle Lacrime (Sanctuary of our Lady of Tears), a church opened in 1996 to honour an event that happened in 1953.  A plaster statue of the Virgin Mary was seen with ‘tears’ rolling down her face.  This condensation on the statue was considered a miracle and ‘scientific analyses’ at the time determined the fluid was human tears.  Construction of the sanctuary began in 1966.  During the excavations the ruins of houses from the 6^th Century BC were found.  Twenty-eight years later the building rising 74 metres above the city was completed.

 We enjoyed our week in Siracusa, all the more so for having met up with a couple from the MedNet.  The MedNet is a SSB radio schedule that runs during the summer.  Cruising sailors from all over the Mediterranean check in to let people know where they are and that all is well.  We have been talking with this group for a few years and it was great to meet some of the members in person.  We had a lovely time socialising with Brad and Ruth from Korsar- a perfect finish for our time in Siracusa.

Heading to Italy: Our First Multiday Passage on Songster

On the water again

After our fabulous Scandinavian tour we returned to very hot Preveza, Greece where we worked for about 10 days to get Songster ready to launch for autumn sailing and the big hop to Italy.  We only had a few jobs and some provisioning to do but it was slow going as it was just too hot to do much in the middle of the day.  Finally the day came to put Songster back in the water.  We said goodbye to the boatyard puppies who are now big dogs and as nice as they are, the sheer number of dogs in the is becoming a bit of a problem for the marina.  Songster had a clean and freshly painted bottom, a functioning water maker, newly serviced injectors on the generator, full fuel tanks, new furler and Genoa, a new wind vane and fully stocked food cupboards.  She was ready to go.

Saying goodbye to the boat yard dogs

Then I realised I was due for another visa run (I hate this Schengen policy) in about 10 days time.  After looking at options to go to a non-Schengen country from Sicily, we decided the easiest and cheapest option was another ‘lunch in Albania’ visa run.  So we turned Songster north towards Corfu via pretty Parga.

A bit of rocky-rolly on our way to Parga

Nice to be back at 'our' spot in Corfu

The massive and incredibly ugly sailing yacht 'SY A' owned by a Russian businessman

Stamped into the Eurozone for another 90 days we were ready for the big multi-day passage to Sicily.  Finally I felt we were going to do some real sailing.  Enough of nearly 4 years of cappuccino cruising; doing easy day sails, island hopping around Greece and Turkey.  As fantastic as it has been, I wanted a bit more of a sailing challenge.  Bob and I had done overnight passages before but always as crew, never just the two of us and fully responsible.  So we had a pre-dawn departure from Corfu to our destination of Taormina, Sicily, about 270nm away and 60 hours of non-stop sailing ahead of us.

Pre-dawn departure

Just sea and sky for 360 degrees

It was a good passage of three days and two nights.  Bob took the 10 pm to 2 am night shift and I had the 2 to 6 am shift.  Then we took naps as needed during the day.  Most people tend to do three hour watches but this method seemed to work for us though it might need to be refined if we do longer passages.  I really enjoyed sailing at night – just the moon, stars and sea.  The weather was benign with generally light winds but enough to sail with for about one-third of the time, which for the Mediterranean is about average.  We rarely came across any other boats.  It was just us, the sea and the beautiful sunsets and sunrises.  I loved it.

Sunset the first night

and sunrise the next morning

On the morning of the third day Mt Etna loomed in the haze.  A few hours later we were hooked up to one of George’s mooring balls in Taormina and swimming in crystal clear water.

Mt Etna in the haze

View from the cockpit

The Farthest North – Honningsvåg and Beyond

 

The next day on our Hurtigruten cruise we rounded Nord Cap, the most northerly point of the Norway mainland – the John 0’Groats of Norway – and stopped at the picturesque town of Honnegsvåg.  At 71⁰N it is the most northerly European town.

 

Honnegsvåg harbour

 

We took a walk along the hill behind the town and were treated with some delightful views and a multitude of beautiful wild flowers.

Overlooking the town

 

 

 

Wild orchids

Heather, but smaller and lower to the ground than what we saw in Scotland

A peaceful resting place.  The inscription says 'Thanks for everything'

What struck us about these little towns above the Arctic Circle was how normal they seemed.  The towns consisted of colourfully painted wooden houses with pretty gardens of bright flowers, green grass and trees.  Bob had spent a year at Casey Station in Antarctica which is located at 66°17’S or 26 nm short of the Antarctic Circle.  There the average high never rises above freezing and ice and snow cover the ground year round.  Here we were at 71°N and people are mowing their lawns!  It just shows the powerful effect of the Gulf Stream on the climate in these parts.  One wonders what would happen to Norway (and all of Northern Europe) if the Gulf Stream ever changed course.

On our way back to the ship we met up with Martin and Elspeth, our mess mates for the last week.  These intrepid cyclists were leaving us to ride their bikes from North Cape back to Trondheim over the next 5 weeks – over 2000 km.  This is just a short ride for them as about 6 months ago they had finished cycling around the world over a two year period.  We will miss them as mess mates but look forward to following their travels on their blog. https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/directory/?user=Elspmart1

Martin and Elspeth off on their 2000 km Norwegian tour

We travelled on enjoying the scenery and stopping briefly at little towns such as Mehamn and Berlevag where the MS Lofoten brings vital supplies and fishing is the main industry.

Cathedral rocks

Mehamn harbour

Fish drying on harbourside racks

Delivering building supplies in Berlevag

The next day we arrived at Kirkenes, the half-way point in our journey and the start of the return southbound trip.  Kirkenes, at 30°02E, is further east than St Petersburg and only a few kilometres from the Russian border and Murmansk.   It was a quiet, pretty town.  

 

Watching for the Russians

Tidy houses of Kirkenes

As with all these towns above the Arctic Circle, we were struck by the homogenous multiculturalism of the modern world.  Everywhere we go we see Kebab shops, Asian food stalls, Pizza parlors and the faces of a wide mix of ethnic groups.  The products in the shops were the same brands one gets everywhere in Europe and Australia.  One expects this in big cities but we were amazed to see such diversity in these remote small towns.  Ironically the one ethnic group we did not happen to see were the original inhabitants of the area, the Sami people.

 

The menu is pan-Asian - sushi, Thai Red Curry, Tikka Masala and everything in between

On our southbound journey we stopped at some different ports or the same ports at different times so we could see them during the day time.  We had a short stop at Vardø where we all trouped off to check out the 18^th Century fortress overlooking a blustery coastline.  Vardø is also where Nansen returned to Norway after his 3 year expedition towards the North Pole.

The outskirts of Vardø

The wall of the 18th Century fortress

Tour Guide

Polar Bear Pub