Some island cruising - The Canaries and Sicily, then Milan

[RooFlyer]

Afternoon tea of some Sicilian bites



Dinner in the main restaurant as evening fell





I bought this - Etna red ... of course!



Entrée of Beef Polpette and main of lamb loin.

 

[RooFlyer]

Overnight transit to Lipari, main town of the Aeolian Islands off the NE coast of Sicily. Really looking forward to this day, as in the afternoon/evening we will be 'cruising past Stromboli' - Stromboli being a permanently erupting volcano island.



This was a busy visit. We moored off the town and took the vessel's lifeboats into a wharf in the town (this is the usual way of tendering in).









We had to walk 15 mins or so through the town as the coaches can no longer reach the wharf.

 

[RooFlyer]

We were ging to do a tour clockwise around most of the island.

First stop gave this fantastic view, from the east of Lipari near Pianogreca south-east towards Vulcano island - pretty appropriately named!





Dunno about the volcano, but check-out that massive landslip immediately behind the town.



Further on, we got a view over to Salina Island.





And furth on still, a tantalising peek north-east past Panarea Island through the gloom to Stomboli!



Onwards to the end of the road, Acquacalda (~ Hot water). A video showing the road and some of the commentary (not the best this time) - and a view of Stromboli.

There used to be hot springs here until an earthquake, so now its just a fishing town. But for me, the other thing about it was the pumice deposits (pumice: that very light, air filled volcanic rock that can float) - mined for ages for the pumice which was used for 'stone washed' denim and beauty products. Now closed.



But did we stop for a look? We did not. The bus did a 5 point turn and we headed back.

 

[RooFlyer]

We returned to Lipari town to visit the Citadel, and the museum there. The history of the town and island mirrors Sicily as a whole, but there is a rich history here going back to the Neolithic period, bronze and iron ages, the Greeks, Romans, Carthaginians (many wrecks from this period, and objects in the museum), Arabs, Normans, then the Hohenstaufen Kings, followed by the Angevins, and then the Aragonese, whose line became the Spanish monarchy, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. etc etc. You know the score by now.:

But then (Wikipedia)

In 1544, Ottoman admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa ransacked Lipari and enslaved the entire population. Five French galleys under Captain Polin, including the superb Réale, accompanied Barbarossa's fleet on a diplomatic mission to Sultan Suleiman in execution of the Franco-Ottoman alliance. French priest Jérôme Maurand lamented about the depredation to his Christian fellow men during the campaign at Lipari: "To see so many poor Christians, and especially so many little boys and girls [enslaved] caused a very great pity." He also mentioned "the tears, wailings and cries of these poor Lipariotes, the father regarding his son and the mother her daughter... weeping while leaving their own city in order to be brought into slavery by those dogs who seemed like rapacious wolves amidst timid lambs".

A number of the citizens were ransomed in Messina and eventually returned to the islands.

Charles V then had his Spanish subjects repopulate the island and build the massive city walls atop the walls of the ancient Greek acropolis in 1556.

The citadel, with the Cathedral





Walk up to the entrance through the customary old narrow streets



Showing the 16th century fort atop old Greek walls.







Inside the ciadel walls, excavations have unearthed ruins from the Roman period,



Greek and prior (the cathedral tower further on)





and buildings from 2,300 - 900BC (bronze age)

 

[RooFlyer]

St Bartholomew's Cathedral, as usual for Sicily, was built on the site of a Greek temple, a Muslim mosque, several earlier church and monasteries in the Norman period, which were destroyed by invaders, and this version dates from the mid 16th century under Charles V.

I visited this by myself, going ahead of the group, who were stuck in the museum, being shown every pot and artifact there, it seemed.



Bell tower from the late 1700s; the façade was re-built in 1861 after a lightning strike.





The vaulted ceiling, painted with Biblical scenes - eg parting of the Red Sea top 1/4 (upside down) and worship of the golden calf (below it, right way up)





Leaving the site down the steps in front of the cathedral.

 

[RooFlyer]

I've skipped the museum, as it was just more of what we've seen before (Nand will see again).

So, we left Lipari and headed for Stromboli - to be one of the top highlights of this cruise for me (amongst many!). To view (hopefully - cloud permitting) an active volcano from the sea, right in front, had me drooling.

First, lunch to dispense with. Pizza.



Then afternoon tea. Cannelloni make an overdue appearance (I wasn't that impressed).



Passed Panarea and minor islands



Then we approached Stromboli.



Clouds . hmmm, but plenty of time yet (we'll be there in the night).



We approached the south-west flank of the island, where a town was. The action is on the north-western side.





The places don't look too bad.



Can't see it very well, but this landslide feature seemed to still be losing rock, with dust being kicked up.



The clouds cleared a bit and we crept around to the north.





But alas, the seas got up a bit and we went back to the lee of the island where we approached from. We had the Captain's coughtail party that afternoon followed by a Gala dinner, so they wanted a calmer platform.

 

[RooFlyer]

coughtails and snacks in the late afternoon








The dinner menu. This Gala Dinner had the cruise Celebrity Chef Danny Imbroisi presiding over the oven. "Best Italian Chef in Paris".
EDIT. No, not this dinner, a later one.



Anyway, dinner out the way, I took up station in the front Observatory Lounge, eyes glued on my phone and GPS position and awaited the next phase of the evening.

 

[RooFlyer]

And waited. Although sea, clouds and wind looked OK, we maintained position for an hour or so and it turned out that we were also maintaining position for the Cruise Director's entertainment night in the main lounge.





I had taken a dislike to this Cruise Director - well away the worst I had encountered on previous cruises. He didn't engage, wasn't approachable and seemed to delegate much of what a CD usually did to the Smithsonian guy I mentioned early on. My dislike intensified as we stayed put.

 

[RooFlyer]

Then, at last we started moving north-west.



and kept going north-west! At the extremity we were sort of front-on, but over 10km away,



I was pretty devastated. The seas and wind on Windy continued to look OK and there was only a little cloud on the volcano.

So .. what did I see. These pics are iPhone enhanced. Like auroras, it didn't look anywhere near like this to the naked eye, especially as we sailed further away!

This first one was taken from the side - there appeared to be quite a big eruption go off, within the clouds.







The wind was getting up a little bit, but no worse where we had sailed to compared to the front of the volcano.



I went to bed, but just before midnight we started heading back, and, hoping they may swing a little eastwards on this return leg, I got up and went to the lounge again. Nup. We headed straight back on the course we went out on. The closer we got, the more side-on we got.

Not. Happy. Jan.

 

[RooFlyer]

So, to wrap up that little drama. Next day I ran into the Captain; as I mentioned before, he's French of course but based in Sydney and doing this cruise as a 'relief'. We've had a few conversations and 'get along'. So I asked about last night's course. After checking with the Bridge we later met for coffee and he explained that while they use Windy, they choose a conservative model and then add 15 knots (or Km/h, can't remember which) to the forecast wind speed when deciding course. So the front of the island was considered to be too rough. Plus, there is a 2km exclusion zone in front of the slope with the volcano mouth.

Nothing on a cruise is guaranteed and the course is absolutely at the decision of the Bridge, but frankly I thought that a bit lame. It only needed a deviation of about 1.5 km east while they either sailed out the 10km or sailed back (the conditions could not have been that different in that small distance), and while keeping 2km away from the shore, we would have been right in front for a viewing. I think they decided 'no-one really cares at 11pm, we'll just go out, and back, and that fulfils the 'sailing Stromboli' part of the itinerary'.

Oh well.

Overnight sail saw us arrive at Reggio Calabria, on the Italian mainland and the narrowest point between Sicily and the mainland (Strait of Messina). Calabria happens to be the current Mafia stronghold in Italy.



A coach, and then the 'Museo naz_onale della Magna Grecia'. Magna Grecia being the historical Greek speaking areas of southern Italy from about the 8th century BC. The chief exhibit here are the 'Riace bronzes' or 'Race warriors'.

Two full-size Greek bronze statues of bearded warriors, cast about 460–450 BC, that were found in the sea in 1972 near Riace, Calabria, in southern Italy. They are two of the few surviving full-size ancient Greek bronzes (which were usually melted down in later times), and as such demonstrate the technical craftsmanship and artistic features that were achieved at this time.

The bronzes are now on display inside a microclimate room on top of an anti-seismic platform faced in Carrara marble. Along with the bronzes, the room also contains two head sculptures: Testa del Filosofo and Testa di Basilea, which are also from the 5th century BC.

originally there were shields held in the left hands and maybe spears in the right.





Additional bronzes on display, both from c 4-5the century BC. 'Testa del Filosofo' (Head of a philosopher) and 'Testa maschile 'di porticello'. The latter head was recovered in 1969 in the waters of Porticello near Villa San Giovanni, but was immediately stolen and placed on the antiques market, arriving at the Antikenmuseum in Basel , but was never exhibited. Thanks to an identikit created by the police based on witnesses who had seen the work immediately after its discovery, the artifact was identified and formally returned by the Swiss museum to the Italian State in 1993. Until now, it has been exhibited as such and known as the Basel Head. But from now on, it will be recognized by its legitimate name from the place of its discovery.

 

[RooFlyer]

We spent some good time with the bronzes, and then were shown around the rest of the ground floor. The local guide was pretty ordinary. He just walked to a couple of cabinets and talked, and then would move off, still talking and talking about the things in front of him, but no-one else.





There he goes ...



The tour was declared at an end, but some-one who had a keen interest in this stuff asked - what about the other floors? Sure, the guide said - we have 15 mins more. So a couple of us shot up the stairs. Not a lot of interest to me, but the other guy was better pleased.

 

[RooFlyer]

After the museum, we were taken 20km north-east to the charming sea side town of Scilla, the traditional site of the sea monster Scylla of Greek mythology.

Another tantalising view of Stromboli.



The town is lorded over by Ruffo Castle, a fortress built by Paolo Ruffo, Duke of Calabria in the late 1500s.





The portion of the town is a sliver of settlement beneath a steep slope (and, more recently, the autostrada).











The main seafood here is swordfish. The tour ended at about noon with a 30 min coffee stop and I wasn't the only one to wish that they included a nice swordfish lunch in the tour.

Someone has regained their humour

 

[RooFlyer]

Lunch back on board.

 

[tgh]

Once upon a time, SS expeditions were seriously adventurous and misc stuff like passenger comfort or entertainment took a back seat.
Unloading the ducks in the middle of the night miles from anywhere in the north sea to check out some granite columns was typical.
Sadly times have changed and the SS piper now plays for soft "adventures" , comfort and other fripperies.
Ponant are not orphans...

 

[RooFlyer]

Later that afternoon, I and several others visited the bridge, at the invitation of the Captain. I think we were the 'Grand Admirals' and 'Commodores' aboard. . Very strangely, this cruise was a 'closed bridge' one, in line with company policy, the Captain said. If so, the last cruise defied the policy, with total 'open bridge' access. Like the last cruise, there was an Aussie cadet aboard, from the Australian Maritime College in Launceston.



Our cruise so far, and 'that' cruise-by ...





Afternoon tea on the pool deck



And then dinner



And I again contemplated the wine list.



This is my favourite spot for dinner and breakfast - rear outside of the main restaurant. It was rarely full (10 or so seats out of view).



We sailed out of Reggio Calabria on a nice balmy evening.



Amuse bouche



Marinated scallops entree. I had to look hard - they didn't look like scallops.





Unusually, dessets were served below on the pool deck. I chose pancakes (I think called something different), not a real success.





And as were finished, we sailed into the sea off Giardini Naxos, with Taormina in the hills above - our destination tomorrow.

 

[RooFlyer]

Taormina. I think my favourite place in Sicily. My view when I looked out of my cabin - the second image pans right from the first.

The ton on the waterfront is Giardini Naxos and Taormina up on the hill to the far right. Mt Etna dominating.








Incredibly perched town of Castelmola above Taormina, where I wouldn't want to be living in an earthquake.



While waiting to tender in, even the most blyth of the pax were admiring the view.



Giardini Naxos was one of the first Greek colonies in Sicily, founded 734 BC and is a popular sea side town today. Our destination up above this town.





Continuing great infrastructure - tunnel up into the town and at the end, a multi-story car and bus park, with a lift up to town level.



Unfortunately built before the era of modern coaches, and the tightness of the entry and manoeuvring in the bus area was amazing.

 

[RooFlyer]

Our walk through the town was mainly level along the Corso Umberto, until we reached the Roman theatre at the far end, where there was an incline, then steeper climb if you wanted to get the views from above the theatre.

Taormina's history follows that of the rest of Sicily, but to note that

During World War II, it was the headquarters of the German Wehrmacht command, and on July 9, 1943, the feast day of its patron saint, Bishop Pancras, Taormina suffered two devastating bombing raids by Allied aircraft, destroying part of its southern section and a wing of the San Domenico Hotel, where a meeting of the German High Command was taking place.

First stop after we got to twon level was a lookout, where we (I) went crazy at the view, not realising that better was to come. Etna was smoking and steaming away from 4 of its 5 active vents.





Porto Catania, the gate through the ancient city wall.





Piazza Duomo with the Cathedral of Taormina, built around 1400 but damaged in the WW2 bombings, but restored shortly afterwards.



The main part of the 17th century fountain in the square shows a crowned centaur who holds the world in his left hand. 4 more fountains of hippocampus (hippocampi ?) around him, but only a trickly of water as a conservation measure.







Lots of narrow streets going up and down hill of the main street., including this one, said to be the narrowest of all.

 

[drron]

Yes a magic place. And the views. Taormina is definitely worth including.
My Brother in Law was a Professor of Geology at Plymouth. As one of his jobs each spring for about 10 weeks he would supervise a group of students to work on the Greek and Roman ruins and excavations. He continued doing this until 2023.

 

[RooFlyer]

Walking on, we come to Piazza IX Aprile, a wonderful square with panoramic views to one side and historic buildings on the others. To the left, the Torre dell'Orologio (clock tower) it was built in the 12th century but destroyed by the invasion of Louis XIV in 1676. It was rebuilt shortly afterwards and the clock installed.



Above the Church of Saint Joseph in the pic above at top right, you can see the Norman castle. I was aching to go up there, as the views are unparalleled, but time and my (lack of) fitness made that not possible - stairs access from this piazza. It only reopened in 2024 after being closed for decades. A pic from the web:

The town fell to the Muslims in 902 after a two-year siege. They rebuilt the castle in its current form, with a trapezoidal plan adapted to the rock's shape and crenelated walls.

In 1078, the Norman Count Roger I of Sicily captured Taormina from the Muslims. By 1134, the castle was used by the San Salvatore la Placa monastery.

And of course you bung a mobile phone tower on it.



At a slightly lower level, the Church of the Madonna on the Rock.



View from the terrace, with our ship down below in the Bay of Naxos. The hotel on the right with the pool, if you want a place to stay, is the Hotel Metropole. Beyond it, on the point is the San Domenico Palace, Taormina, A Four Seasons Hotel (formerly the German Wehrmacht command in WW2, which got bombed).



Then Palazzo Corvaja, begun in the 13th century. In 1410, it housed the Sicilian Parliament. The Corvaja family owned it from 1538 to 1945



On the right, you can see a crowd. The main street turns right here, and the crowding continues all the way up to the Roma Theatre.



I resisted buying.

 

[RooFlyer]

Another view of the Norman castle and church above the town.



The theatre at Taormina was originally built by the Greeks in the 3rd century BC, but the structure you see today is mostly Roman, with some Greek foundations still evident.







You can climb up to the rim of the theatre for some good views