A Fishermen from Ischia going out to fetch his daily catch - sadly he returned empty handed Our Captain Marco found the perfect bay to stay for the night. There was no swell. We had a good night's rest. The bay was also shielded from any radio signal - no messaging in this "Funkloch" as we said in ths Swiss Army. A southerly picked up shortely after 8 am - time to set sails and move around the island to visit Cumae, the oldest Greek colony on the Italian mainland. Founded in

The majestic Greek Theatre in Tyndaris has been partially refurbished and hosts many musical and theatrical performance every summer Last night, there was a big party in Milazzo. After dinner, we went ashore to find out what people were celebrating. The entire town was on the beach promenade. Families with small babies. Couples dressed up elegantly. Elderly women in their Sunday gowns - their hubbies in shorts. Teenage girls and boys trying to impress each other. On stage, th

Sunrise over the Straits of Messina at 6.55 am At 5 am this morning, Captain Mario started the engine. We wanted to get to the Straits of Messina before the wind picked up. Today's plan was to visit Scilla Castle on the Calabrian side, then anchor for lunch at Capo Pelore, Sicily's most eastern point and to sail after lunch to Messina at 3 pm, right on time for our walk through town. We made good progress. By 9 am we reached the Straits, announced our position to traffic cont

Syracuse Yacht Harbour at 07.15 at Sunrise Clear blue sky but a rather windy morning. Driven by the Mistral, a northerly wind is blowing through the Straits of Messina. It blows at > 20 knots. Waves south of the Straits are now at 1.5 meters. At breakfast, we decide to delay the departure to after lunch. We would get terribly soaked if we leave now. In the afternoon, the wind is supposed to die down. We will use the spare morning for things we have to do anyway. Whilst we do

The Cittadella in Victoria, Gozo's Capital, was modernized from 1599 - 1620 With less than 10% of Malta's population, Gozo, the northern island, was seldom at the heart of Malta's history. Its bays are narrow, the good harbours few, the sandy beaches in the north small. The island is better known for its high cliffs and hills. Though the limestone and sandy soil is not ideal for agriculture. In 1551, the island was raided by Turkish Corsairs who enslaved the entire population

Greek Helmets excavated under the Temple of Athena in Velia (Elea). Geopolitics these days are interesting. With Russia’s unsuccessful war against the Ukraine, we witness the demise of one of the last empires. China’s rise to superpower is slowed down by unforgivable demographics, a lack of energy and an exorbitant debt burden. And the USA is trying to reverse its relative decline by “Make America Great Again”. Geopolitics are nothing new. More amazing though is seeing them b

Ara Pacis Augustae - Alter of the Peace of Augustus to Honor the Return of Augustus from Campaigning in Spain in 9 BC Preparing for this year's sailing from Malta to Pozzuoli made me cover many ancient cultures and empires. Articles on Etruscans followed pieces about Carthage. Notes on the Greek by stories on the Phoenicians. Reviewing my blogs I noticed that I barely talked about Rome. And when I did, mostly about its Imperial Time. Made me wonder why I did so until I realiz

Misenium in Roman Time 2'000 Years ago - modern Miseno looks still bery much the same In 49 BC, Julius Caesar built a giant new naval base in Fréjus (Forum Julium). 23 years later, his adopted son Augustus moved the fleet to a new base in Misenium (Miseno) near Naples. What happened? What made Caesar's huge investment suddenly so irrelevant? After the fleet moved away, Frejus slowed down, silted and eventually decayed. This old Roman Port is now a good 1'000 meters inland fro

The Roman Theatre in Fréjus is partially restored & sits 1'000 people - 7'500 in Roman Time Since I was a student, I planned to visit - never got around it. Last time I tried was in 2023 but a 2-day Mistral forced us to skip Fréjus and shelter in Porquerolles - a good 70 miles to the west. But now it was time. Caesar's harbour fascinated me for the longest time. Why would Julius Caesar build his main naval base here in France? The answer is twofold: The upcoming civil war and

Castello di Fiuzzi with the Isola di Dino on the Tyrrhenian Shores of Calabria Calabria is known for many things. The beautiful beaches. The pictoresque villages. The steep mountains. The high frequency of earthquakes (see later blog). Its upcoming and promising wines (also covered in a later blog). And the Ndrangheta, its Mafia. View from the Castello Longobardo Normanno di Malvito towards Calabria's Mountains According to Wikipedia, the Ndrangheta is today a highly sophist

Borgo Vecchio in Amantea - the Wall to the Left was built by the Muslim Rulers Tourists visiting Spain learn during their holidays that the country was once ruled by Muslims. The cathedrals in Cordoba and Seville and the Alhambra Palace in Grenada are living testimony. The Muslim rulers stayed long enough – for centuries actually – to influence the country’s architecture. Few visitors to Calabria though know that Muslims ruled here for a few decades as well. There were three

1678 was not a good year for Messina. The town where the Christian Fleet assembled in 1571 to defeat the Ottomans at Lepanto and famous Spanish writer Miguel Cervantes ("Don Quichotte") recovered from his wounds, was sacked by Spanish troops. Four years before, Messina had revolted against the Spanish King and allied itself with Louis XIV, only to find out that his support went up in the air once the Peace of Nijmegen was signed. The conflict had started when the Spanish Cro

The Straits of Messina with Messina Town in the Foreground and Calabria at the Back The United Kingdom consists of five parts: England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland ... and Sicily. Sounds weird but almost happened in 1812. Several members of the British government argued that the same Normans who conquered England in 1066 (Battle of Hasting) also conquered Sicily (1061 - 1091). It is easy to dismiss this idea as crazy today. In 1812 however, Napoleon controlled Europe except Port

The US 6th Fleet during a Visit in Istanbul in March 1950. Visible is an Iowa Class Battleship, the Aircraft Carrier USS Midway and several Destroyers As an active officer during the Cold War, I always knew that NATO's Southern Command was located in Naples. Though I never visited and never bothered to ask why it was situated there. The threat by the Red Fleet was understood after 1973's Yom Kippur War between Israel on the one side and Egypt and Syria on the other. As office

Horatio Nelson (1758 - 1805) portraited in 1799 As someone with a keen interest in military history, I know quite a bit about Horatio Nelson. The British Admiral defeated Napoleon’s joint French - Spanish Fleet at Trafalgar in 1805 which prevented the invasion of England. One of London’s largest squares is named after his triumph. His column stands tall in the middle of Trafalgar Square. An uncounted number of English pubs carry Nelson's name. His victory paved the way for a

View over Salerno towards the 32 km long Beach to the South of the town A good 50 km southeast of Naples lies the town of Salerno, once the Norman capital for their lands in Southern Italy (11 th century). The town is known for the world’s first medical school established in the 9 th century and the landings of British and American forces on 9 th of September 1943 during Operation Avalanche. The day before, the Italian Government had announced its capitulation and declared

Villa Jovis behind Capri as seen from Monte Solaro, the Island's highest Elevation High above the Tyrrhenian Sea, on the island of Capri, stand the ruins of the Imperial Villa Jovis. For ten years (27 – 37 AD), the second Roman Emperor lived and ruled from here. Tiberius’ old palace towers 334 m or 1066 feet above sea level. It was placed on Capri’s second highest mountain. To our ears, Villa Jovis does not sound like anything special – just "Jupiter House". For the Romans th

Etruscan Buccheri (simple pottery) exported to Sardinia, now in the National Archeology Museum in Calgari At times, I stumble on fascinating facts which stare into my face for years without me noticing. Happened again last week when I wrote about Campi Flegrei , the large cauldron west of Naples. As I was searching for craters, I came across the Greek colony of Cumae, a settlement with acropolis, port and long town walls. In 474 BC, 6 years after the Athenians destroyed the P

Staying in the Bay of Navarino last night was a good choice. The sea was calm. We were well protected from the westerlies. This morning,...

Sunrise over the location of the Navarino Battle today What a rocky start this morning. Swell from the west hit us hard after leaving...