Aretusa and Cyclops

The frequent winter gales that howl through the Sicily Straights delaying our departure from Gozo did not too disappointed us as it gave us a chance to explore this beautiful island more extensively.
Our tour of the Island started at Ramla Bay which did not resemble the idyllic swimming beach with great rollers crashing on to its sandy strand. Along the sea road and over the cliffs to Marsalforn, past Obaijar and Xwieni Bays to the Roman saltpans that are still producing many tons of white gold every year. Onward through the towns of Ghasri, Gharb and St Lawrenz each with their picturesque main square with church, police station complete with blue light, red post box and telephone kiosk. Apart from the massive churches each of them could be a market square in any English village.
Dwerja Point and the Azure Window, a large hole in the headland, is the picture postcard image of Gozo with a tranquil Mediterranean sea reflecting the sheer limestone cliffs. Not as we saw it, however, with the furious and dramatic with azure waves their breaking tops blown to snowy white spume under the clear blue sky. Here, protected by Fungus Rock, is a bay in which we would have liked to have anchored but not today as even this near landlocked bay was a boiling cauldron of angry water.
The winding track down to the old quarry quay at Hondoq Ir-Rummien gave us breathtaking views over the Island of Comino and its idyllic Blue lagoon where we enjoyed anchoring in rather more settled weather a few days previously.
Two things, other than the magnificence of the scenery, will remain in our memories for a long time. The first is the fact that, apart from in the capital Victoria, we were virtually the only car on the roads. We are so thankful that we are here out of season! The second is the sight and smell of the multitudinous number and variety of wild flowers that are abundant in the absolutely natural grasslands.
Our sail across the Straights to Sicily was uneventful and we made our landfall at Marzamemi on the east coast, an undistinguished but friendly place. We intended our visit to Sicily to be brief and to include just the City of Siracusa and Mount Etna.
The ancient Mediterranean settlement on the Island of Ortigia, the old town of Siracusa, inhabited since the Greeks arrived in 480BC, was one of the most important of Cities of the ancient Greek world and as Cicero declared the most beautiful. It is a veritable jewel. Its Grecian history is in evidence everywhere from the Temple of Apollo and the incredible Theatre carved out of the rock hillside to the Temple of Athena now incorporated into the 18th century Duomo. It is amazing to see the Greek and the Gothic pillars side by side and as a total disparity, the intricate Baroque facade. The church of Siracusa was the first to be founded by St Peter and, after the church of Antiochia, the second to be dedicated to Christ.
The imperial Piazzas, one of which is named after Siracusa’s most famous son Archimedes, and the maze of narrow streets with their exquisite 14th and 15th century palazzos and the grand 19th and early 20th century buildings fronting the Harbour bestow upon the place the atmosphere of Venice on land. Nelson watered his fleet here from a natural spring on the harbour side in which papyrus grows and where, legend has it, Aretusa emerged from the ground having been changed into a spring by Artemis to escape her lover Alpheus.
We walked for miles to the Archaeological Park of Neapolis on the outskirts of Siracusa. The Roman amphitheatre is disappointingly small and dilapidated compared with those we have seen in Rome and Tunisia but the Greek Theatre is colossal, the biggest in the Magna Greaccia, and stunningly carved out of the rock of the hillside.
Beside the Theatre is a Quarry of magnificent proportion aptly called the ‘Latomies of Paradise’ for its lush vegetation and citrus trees. Cut into the face of the quarried rock is the huge cave of ‘The ear of Dionysius’ named so as it is shaped like an ear. The acoustics in this vast chamber are extraordinary.
One wonders how the Greeks undertook such massive tasks with such precision with the limited and minimal tools available to them.
Weather forecasts for our next passage north along the coast were conflicting with either a westerly Force 3-4 or a north westerly Force7! During our eight hour sail to Riposto we had mostly the former with Bella picked romping along in the 12 to 15 knot breeze just forward of the beam at a creditable 7 to 8 knots even though laden as she is. Under the influence of Cyclops the one eyed monster on Mount Etna however we had 180 degree wind shifts and 30 knots of wind on the nose.

What a magnificent sight this snow capped volcano is. We are so lucky to see it at all, let alone as clearly, as it is usually, particularly during the summer, swathed in cloud and haze. Yet another good reason for sailing this part of the world in the late winter and spring. The setting for the marina and town is wonderful with Etna dominating the skyline. It is a bit like being on the shores of an Alpine lake.
For the sailors amongst you looking to budget for marina prices in this area it is mid season and they have varied from £16 in Marzamemi to £28 in Siracusa and Riposto.
Our next adventure will take us to the foot of Italy and then onward to Croatia.