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

Outcrop of Obsidian Glass on the Eastern Tip of Lipari, the largest Aeolian Island Over the last few years, obsidian made an interesting come-back. Once material for cutting edge tools for our neolithic ancestors, it now adorns the necks and ears of modern women. Obsidian, a volcanic glass, acts like a mirror when carefully polished. Look at an “Alhambra” ear ring and you look at yourself. An Obsidian Pendant from the Alhambra Collection (Van Cleef & Arpel

Pointed Arches in the Duomo di Sant Andrea, Amalfi We will visit Amalfi and its Duomo in Week 3 this summer A good year ago, Notre Dame in Paris opened its doors again. It was closed for five years for refurbishment after it burnt down in spring 2019. I vividly remember the TV pictures of the flames licking up the roof and how the spire collapsed. Next to the Duomo of Milan, Notre Dame is the world's most famous Gothic church. My favorite though is the smaller Cathedral o

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

Segmented Plate Armor (Lorica Segmentata) weighted about 15 kilograms per Legionnaire Global trade is made possible by maritime transport. These days, there are a good 107’000 merchant ships plowing the waves. Oil tankers account for about 12’000 ships, bulk carriers (ore, coal, grain) make up 13’000. There are 21’000 large cargo and 6’000 container vessels. The other 50% are smaller, primarily coastal merchant ships. A Roman Grain Freighter leaving a Port - possibly Leptis M

Am often asked “what was the highlight" of the 2025 trip? Most people expect an answer like the "Turquoise Beach of Kasos", or the...

The Phoenicia during Sea Trials in 2008 which demonstrated its Seaworthiness What a difference a tag makes. For years I searched for a...

Tar has a high Viscosity and flows slowly but is still liquid at Room Termperature There are many unsung innovations in history. One of...

Felucas on the Nile, sailing upriver with the prevailing Desert Wind A few months ago I wrote a blog about ropes. Always wanted to follow...

Francesco de Pinedo and Ernesto Campanellin in the Savoia in 1925 Exactly 100 years ago, Francesco de Pinedo, a pioneering Italian...

The 2004 completed Rion Antirion Bridge in Patras links A5 and A8 and cost EUR 670 Million At the end of this summer’s sailing, we will...

Ala Littoria's Flight Schedule 1939 - you can see Rhodes A good 2 months to go until we set foot on the Myra, our sail boat from 19 of...

The Greek Navy Ship Olympias somewhere in the Aegean A few weeks ago I wrote about Persian Emperor (King of Kings) Xerxes ' efforts in...

“Tempora mutantur et nos in illis”. Times change and we with them. Was reminded of this Latin proverb when doing the follow-up on my blog...

The Venetian City of Candia (Heraklion) in 1669 - the star-shaped Walls were built 1530 - 1570 Plotting the route for summer sailing is...

When we sailed from Istanbul to Athens in 2022, we took the time to stop in Akrotiri, the Minoan site on Santorini's south coast ( F + 18...