We’re Back!
Traveling light - NOT
The past three months were a whirlwind of friends and family which included lots of stateside travel: Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California and Arizona. What a terrific time we had! Reveling in those memories is what got me through the somewhat grueling trip back to Malta. A long delay out of Seattle meant arriving late at the Frankfurt airport where you disembark the plane in a parking lot, board a bus which then meanders around trucks, other parked planes, luggage carts, etc. before unloading you at a terminal, followed by a mad dash (and I mean an endurance run - not a sprint) through the concourses before literally arriving at the gate with 3 minutes to spare…and eventually arriving in Malta with half our luggage. Phew! We actually managed to stay awake until 9pm (after being up for 30 hours) and were, somewhat, ready to be at the shipyard at 8am the next morning to launch Meraki.
We spent the next couple of days in Grand Harbor Marina in Valletta unpacking our duffles, stowing all the gear we’d brought, provisioning, refueling and passage planning for our voyage to Sicily. We then moved around the corner to a smaller marina where our friends (Aussie’s we’d met in Montenegro) had spent the winter. We enjoyed a long visit over coffee in the morning and then were invited to join them and several other couples that evening for a wine tasting held on a small sailboat owned by an Austrian couple. It was great to visit with other live-aboard folks albeit briefly as we had planned our departure for 5am the next day.
Back in our happy place.
Our first voyage of 2024 was a 10.5 hour passage and we opted to leave before dawn so as to arrive before sunset. We ducked into the small Marzamemi Marina late that afternoon after a pleasant shake-down cruise with long, easy, rolling waves and sunny skies. The next day we would cruise up to Syracuse, Sicily, an actual Port of Entry, and check into the country. We were unable to secure a marina in Syracuse the first night so we tied up at the town quay. It was great people-watching that evening and the next day we moved around the point into a small marina where we planned to stay for a few days.
Trinacria: the symbol of Sicily depicts the winged head of Medusa surrounded by three bent legs representing the three corners of the island.
Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea - over 9,900 square miles. It is a triangular shaped island with coasts along the Ionian, Tyrrhenian, and Mediterranean Seas and is home to 9 of the 13 active volcanoes in Italy.
Once an independent state known as the Kingdom of Sicily, this kingdom was established in the 12th century and lasted until the mid-19th century when it was merged with the Kingdom of Italy. During its time as an independent state, Sicily had its own distinct culture and government, which was separate from that of Italy. Despite Italian being the official language, Sicily has its own completely distinct language from Italian that is not simply a dialect.
Sicily is, of course, known for it’s pizza. Traditional Sicilian pizza (sfincione) has a thick crust and is topped with a generous serving of tomatoes as well as anchovies, onions, and herbs. I would describe it as a cross between pizza and focaccia. Often there is no cheese on traditional sfincione pizza.
Traditional cannolis
I discovered that cannolis, available all over Italy, originated in Sicily. You can buy the delicate flaky shells in most grocery stores to fill with your favorite flavors at home. I also learned that Sicily is known for its wine. The volcanic soil and Mediterranean climate create optimal conditions for wine grapes.
We didn’t have time to cruise much of the Sicilian coastline so we decided to make Syracuse our home base while we explored the island by car. Setting out early in the day we drove north up to the furthest point east on the island.
Driving in Italy is exactly what you may have heard - the traffic laws are considered merely a suggestion. No one seems to care about speed limits - including the police who zipped past us without the blink of an eye as we drove 20 kilometers above the speed limit! The major highways are well maintained and due to the mountainous terrain they pass through one long tunnel after another. I began to feel that I was spending most of our drive underground and would never see Sicily if we didn’t exit the motorway. Truth be told, I love taking secondary roads through small towns and villages - even if it means getting stopped behind a flock of sheep in the road or being delayed at a single lane bridge. I’m not sure Tom enjoys the narrow roads as much as I do but we manage to compromise.
We eventually found ourselves on the small Tyrrhenian coast town of Cefalù, an ancient fishing village flanked by a mountain on one side and the sea on the other. The Old Town, shows the vestiges of its medieval history. There are quaint churches, picturesque piazzas, a Norman cathedral, and lots of shops along the narrow streets. We stayed in a sweet little room overlooking the beach and the old city and spent a lovely evening exploring the cobbled streets, enjoying an amazing meal with local wine (I had, of course, researched Sicilian cuisine so we had an idea of which specialties to sample), and took a long walk on the beach the next morning. After moving from thing to thing to thing, focusing on so much planning, managing so much change and movement during the previous week(s), it felt great to finally slow down and begin to feel grounded again.
We continued on through the central part of Sicily driving through vineyards and farmland and up into the mountains. We visited the Castello di Lombardia (Lombardy Castle) in Enna. It is one of the largest and most ancient edifices in Italy. Enna is a community high on a hilltop with spectacular views of Mt Etna, the highest active volcano in Europe. This iconic cone shaped volcano is quite active and has a continual stream of smoke escaping from it’s peak.
You feel quite small in the Syracuse Coast Guard building.
All too soon we returned to Meraki and began prepping for the next voyage. We needed more veg from the green grocer, a loaf of bread from the baker, and we still needed to check in with the Coast Guard to get our official paperwork. The cruising weather windows are quite limited here this time of year so we would need to be ready when a opening presented itself.
