Screen shot of places visited on trip so far (2014-2017)
Our berth in Lakkios Yacht Club on a stormy day
Better day and showering with “Mao” the French cat
Dinner on Camira with Keith, Julia, Jim & Jean followed by sore heid preparations
Well, it was our intention to spend the whole of the winter in Syracuse and lift Camira out of the water for a well overdue clean & antifoul. We arranged to move into a small but very nice apartment. It wasn’t quite ready so our lovely landlord Marco let us stay temporarily in his other larger apartment until it was. We moved in one day and Gordon moved out the next!
The 1st apartment at Piazza Euripide
He had found a suspicious looking “oily mark thing” on the sole of his foot. When he contacted our Doc at home she wanted him home asap and was arranging an urgent referral for him to see a specialist.
I stayed on as I had to move our things from one apartment to another in the hope that Gordon’s visit home would be a short one, but after being seen by a couple of dermatologists and a plastic surgeon, it was apparent that he wasn’t coming back to Sicily anytime soon. So, I moved everything out of the apartment back onto the boat and made arrangements for the work we wanted done to be carried out while we were away.
Missus Clampit on the move
To cut this short, everything, thankfully, turned out ok with Gordon’s foot. He did need a biopsy done which took a considerable length of time to heal as they can’t stitch the sole of the foot. But in the scheme of things that was a good outcome.
We were once again very fortunate that Diane, Harry, Billy and Jayne put us up between them. Where would we be without such good friends and family! If the outcome had not been so favourable, we would have needed to let our tenants go and move back into the house. So it’s a massive thank you to Diane for the Boutique Hotel East Kilbride & Billy and Jayne for Badger’s cottage
It was great spending time with everyone that we managed to catch up with when we were back. Gordon was loving it having me as his personal driver. Just as well I had decided to do “Dry January” or it might not have been quite so harmonious.
I did on the odd occasion leave him stranded on his own to catch up with the girls. In hindsight maybe this wasn’t a good idea. What should have been lunch only turned into dinner and an unplanned overnight stay in EK, requiring a rescue mission from Carol’s wonderful, patient husband Derek who had to drive from EK to Glasgow then Shotts and finally back to EK with four women in various states of incapacity in his car. Oh dear!
The girls lost day out
We also managed to fit in a night with Dave and Iain when they were home visiting their family.
Louise is let back in to Vronis Bar
A day down at Inverkip with Sandy and Evelyn to see their new boat it was blowin a hoolie so we couldn’t get out, but we did manage lunch of course
Sandy & Evelyn’s new boat
A great curry night in Dundee hosted by Brian and Hazel, with Val, Dave, Phil and Eileen.
Dundee curry night … … & our gracious host
Christmas with Harry, Diane and Andy. Afternoon tea with the girls (no alcohol consumed at all this time !). A visit out to see Robert and Francis. Suite shopping with Magoo. Helping Billy and Jayne to host the annual Nomad’s night in their beautiful new house. Lunch at Jim & Jean’s and last but by no means least, lunch with our pal Dave. Gordon even gate-crashed a MITIE night out.
Badger’s Cottage Two unwilling models inside
Day trip to Killin – Hotel where Gordon was a cocktail barman ! lol
We returned to Syracuse on 28th February and managed to get back into the wee apartment we were originally meant to be in, though we could only stay until the beginning of April. The boatyard said this would be fine and that the work should be completed by then. However due to rain there is a bit of a hold up and we’ve had to find another apartment, and now hope to be relaunching the boat on Wednesday 12th or Thursday 13th April. Fingers crossed!
Lift out in Antonio’s yard – stripped back to gelcoat
Epoxied waiting for antifoul
The 2nd appartment at Pizza Euripide
Siracuse is a busy city in Summer and gets loads of tourists. In winter it’s much quieter but still has a buzz about it. It’s been a wetter and colder winter compared to previous winters, we are told, but I think this is true of most places in the Med this year. There’s no live aboard community in the marina and in hindsight it may have been a bit quiet if we’d been there all winter. In saying that, we’ve still met loads of people and had a great time. Our friends Pete and Ali who we met much earlier in our trip stopped here last year and have now bought a house out in the hills and intend staying put for a while.
Ali & Pete’s House and Tigger
Tapas on board with Mal & Liam Jim’s birthday at the apartment
Syracuse is located in the southeast corner of the island beside the Ionian Sea. The city was founded 2,700 years ago by Ancient Greek Corinthians and became a very powerful city-state. It was allied with Sparta and Corinth and exerted influence over the entity of Magna Graecia. It was the birthplace of Archimedes. Cicero desrcibed it as “the greatest Greek city and the most beautiful of them all”. It equalled Athens in size during the 5th century BC. After this Palermo overtook it in importance as the capital of the Kingdom of Sicily.
Dionysius’s Ear
Dionysius used the cave as a prison for political dissidents, and by means of the perfect acoustics eavesdropped on the plans and secrets of his captives. Another more gruesome legend claims that Dionysius carved the cave in its shape so that it would amplify the screams of prisoners being tortured in it.
Teatro Greco Teatro Romano
The nucleus of the ancient city was the small island of Ortygia now joined by a bridge. It’s lovely narrow cobbled streets are teaming with shops, restaurants and cafes.
The bridges across to Ortygia
Temple of Appolo , Ortygia
Grand Harbour front , Ortygia
The main Piazza, Piazza Duomo is beautiful with it’s cathedral and city buildings. It is a gorgeous place to sit and watch the stylish Italian people take their passeggiata each night
Piazza Duomo
or round by the castle the bars and cafes line the high walkway (lungomare) and is a great place to watch the sun going down.
Fountain of Artuesa
Lungomare looking out onto the Grand Harbour
Dusk in Ortygia with Etna in the distance
The square at Temple of Appollo and a Granita Bar
Bridge to Corso Umberto from Ortygia
Ortygia market
Between days away on bikes, the local buses, trains and hiring a car we have managed to see quite a bit of East and South Sicily. Notable for the stunning Baroque architecture are Noto and Ragussa Ibla.
Noto
Ragussa Ibla
Mount Etna is another one of the must see things, quite something, especially when it’s snow covered. We circumnavigated it by car visiting some of the towns and villages surrounding it.
Etna & Randazzo
We took a trip to Licata which is where we were originally going to winter on Sicily but later changed our minds.
Licata marina & town
Ragussa marina (different from Ragussa Ibla) was another which we considered. On reflection, I think we made the right choice with Syracuse. It may not have had a live-aboard community but the actual place has more going for it than either Licata or Ragussa.
Marina di Ragussa
Marzamemi is a small fishing village not far from Syracuse. We had lunch here one day. It was very quiet at this time of year but imagine it would be bunged in the tourist season,its a cute wee place.
Marzamemi & Lido di Noto
In October Diane and Harry rented a beautiful villa in Javea Spain where we visited them for a week followed by a couple of days in Valencia.
On the way out we stayed over in Catania the night before the flight.
Catania
It was great to see them and to see Harry having such a ball in the pool. He is so comfortable in the water and was loving the company of his Uncle Gordon, if for nothing other than a wave maker in the pool.
Javea Diane & Harry
Susan our friend is coming out in a few weeks time, she’s not booking her return flight just in case we whisk her off to another country as has been done before. We will hopefully soon be back in the water and ready for our first sail of 2017.
20 mile cycle – Syracuse and Etna in distance. Lakkios Pontoon
Yet again it’s been a great and varied year, but one that’s was also tinged with sadness as well with the loss of two of our friends.
We’re looking forward to our fourth year cruising around the Med and fingers crossed it’ll be starting around the end of this month.
