October 5th to 13th


When we had gone from Menorca to Sardinia and from Sardinia to Sicily, we
heard U.S. Navy Warships announcing themselves as a US Navy Warship on the
VHF. It was both comforting and scarry!!!

We got to Acquasanta, Sicily at 7 pm on October 5th and then for the next
three days we drove thru the surrounding towns of Palermo.  The first day we
drove in the town of Palermo which is an experience in itself.  There are so
many motorcycles and cars zipping around each other without the aid of
traffic lights!!! Picture New York City WITHOUT any traffic lights and then
add many motorcycles and motorscooters to make it more interesting. People
seem to close their eyes and drive!!! We have hardly seen any traffic
accidents in all of our travels. We saw 4 in and around Palermo; one
fatality on a bike and most included scooters or bikes. Japan was busy, but
this is crazy.

We then left the town and drove to Bagheria. There we visited the Villa
Palagonia which had an unbelieveable collection of gotesque sculptured
figures on top of the walls that surrounded the castle.  On the second floor
there was a room depicting the Labors of Hercules with marble work and
mirrors and paintings on the ceiling.  Cefulu was our next stop and we had a
great lunch at a little restuarant with a balcony jutting out over the
water.(Cucina Tipica Sicillana). We saw the Temple of Diana and Daphene, as
lengend would like us to believe, is still there imprisoned in the rock into
which she was transformed!! We looked at the marina there and at Termini and
decided that neither would do.  Then back thru the maze of Palermo and to
our boat!!!

The next day (10/7)we took a picture of Hollywood or at least the sign!!!
We decided to go inland to the town of Corleone where some of my ancestors
lived.  We found a quiet little park with benches and a fountain with
goldfish and had our picnic lunch.  We shared our scraps with two cats. We
drove thru the towns going south until we reached Agrigento on the southern
coast and visited the Valley of the Temples.  High on a hill sat three huge
temples with many minor structures between them.  We had dinner at a quaint
Italian resturant in Palermo.  As we sat down we kept on hearing the word
Americano on their TV.  I heard the woman next to us speak English and asked
if she understood what the newsmen were saying.  She told us that America
had just attacked Afghanistan.  As we spoke we found out that she and her
husband live in New York City and were about three blocks away from the Twin
Towers when they were hit.  She said the city is still burning and the dust
is everywhere, but it is the smell that is most disconcerting.

On Monday, we visited the Catheral in Palermo as well as the Palazzo dei
Normanni and Cappella Palatine and drove past the Palazzo Preforia.  Then
thru the depths of Palermo to the town of Segusta where we found a Doric
Temple and a Greek Theatre.  We had lunch in Trapani at another great
restuarant... are there any bad restuarants in all of Italy????  I don't
think so!!!!

On Tuesday, before we returned the car, we entered the Catacombs of
Cappuccini.  There we saw over 8000 wealthy Palermitans bodies, a few of
them mummified, but most of them in a skeletal state, many are standing,
some seated and others in caskets or crystal urns. What a way to end our
stay in Palermo!!!

Wednesday we woke up at 3:30 a.m. to travel almost 90 miles to Portarosa
which is on the northeastern end of Sicily. For most of the day, there was
no wind and therefore no wave action.  It was a good relaxing day with
seeing a couple of dolpins. We got a little help from the wind but not much.
A light wind was on our nose for only the last 2 hours of our trip. The
entrance and docking at Portorosa Marina was uneventful. We actually may be
getting used to this stuff!

After staying two nights at this quiet summer resort marina, we decided to
fuel up and spend the night in the bay west of the marina.  It was beautiful
there and we were the only ones who stayed overnight.

Comparison: Sardinia vs. Sicily:  We found that Sicily is greener, better
maintained,farmed more (tree farms as well as more sheep and horses) and
generally more pleasing to the eye than Sardinia.  Both had Pine Trees as
well as Palm Trees, Olive Trees and both had Aquaducts and ruins popping up
in fields as well as in cities!  However, the men are much more handsome in
Sardinia!!

ARRIVEDERCI Italy we will be back!!!

Rudy and I did a great deal of soul searching and investigation on whether
we should go to Turkey for the winter because of the world situation and
decided to continue on with our plans.  Many people who are living aboard
their sailing vessels in Turkey wrote to us telling us there is no problem
and they feel extremely safe.  The Turkish people were and are very
compassionate concerning the happenings on September 11th and are doing
everything possible to make their stay in Turkey a pleasant one.  So we will
be starting our journey to Turkey tomorrow, hopping from one Greek Island to
the next until we get to Turkey. In Turkey we will only be 30 miles from
Greece so a quick exit is always possible.