Lovely Licata

We let out the sails and start to head along the southern coast of Sicily. The wind and waves are at our backs, so we split the sail and get good speeds over 10 knots. There is a new marina at Licata which we hear is offering berths for free during the month of May. It is a great place for us to spend some time, so we decide to take advantage of the offer. Situated between two ancient commercial ports of Gela and Agrigento, this little piece of real estate has its history of battles and occupation that dates back to before the Greeks. We happen to stumble into town in the middle of their biggest festival of the year celebrating Sant’Angelo’s day, the patron saint of the town. It is a four-day affair that includes music, traditional dance, street fairs and lots of homage to this beloved saint. On Sunday the town church held the blessing of the donkeys. The donkeys are adorned with peacock feathers, foxtails, flowers, beaded material and anything else they can do to make their donkey the most ornate. You can’t be blessed by the church dressed in nothing but your finest. Often the donkeys are hitched to detailed painted carts and pulling cherry cheeked children with proud smiles . After evening Sunday mass, there is a somber procession carrying Saint Angelo’s relics through town in a magnificent silver ark. The brass band plays and the participants carry lit candles marking the way. Throughout all of this there are about a hundred barefoot teenage boys dressed as sailors milling around the plaza in front of the church for their part in the pageantry. It comes at the end of the procession. While waiting the impatient boys make their own fun by creating human towers and chanting what sounded more like soccer cheers than anything religious. Occasionally they would take one of the younger boys and throw them as high as they could in the air and catch the flaying boy as he came back down. The procession with the sacred urn eventually stops at the other end of town. The police clear the streets and the young sailors take their place in front. After some chanting and a few false starts, these hundred or so barefoot sailors all break into a run back to the chapel with the silver urn carried along at the same speed. Carrying this heavy ark holding the relics of Saint Angelo is not easy. At one point it precariously tips, but is rescued by the running sailors. Ok, I have no idea what that is about, but it is certainly a fun part of the celebration. The next day, the festivities continue as the young men of the town show their bravado by first trying to walk to the end of a narrow beam on the stern of a fishing boat that is greased to capture the red flag that is at the end. Numerous failed attempts are made with the young boy sliding off the plank and plunging into the sea before one is able to make a valiant leap for the flag as he too slides on the slippery surface into the sea. A cheer goes up from the quay as the town witnesses the bravery. Then in mass, the whole crowd surrounds a tall pole that has also been greased to watch a different group try to climb to the top. At the very top waving in the wind is another red flag taunting the participants below. They also attach a hoop at the top and hang stuff animals, soccer balls and treats. The young men make attempt after attempt to reach the prize. Getting boosted up and climbing on shoulders of those already clinging to the greased pole, they try and reach the top. But it is not all that simple. Part of the tradition is to also pull and rip the clothing of those above you. Pant legs are torn off and tee shirts ripped before someone is able to make it to the top. From there the stuffed animals and soccer balls are thrown to the crowd below before the red flag is finally captured. This is a celebration not for tourists, but for the town itself. This time of year there are very few outsiders clicking their cameras for those photo opportunities. We were one of the few. This is a celebration of what binds a community together. The young and the old come together to play an important role in the long traditions that have uniquely defined this town along the southern coast of Sicily.

Running Back to Ragusa

After a week of exploring the northern part of Italy we catch a flight and head for the very most southern part of Italy. Back to Sicily and Marina di Ragusa, where my boat spent the winter enjoying the Italian sun without me. We arrived in the late evening and found everything as we had left it. The next couple of weeks are being spent cleaning, polishing, blowing up the dingy, raising the sails, doing laundry, stocking up the pantry and all the other details to get ready for the summer sailing season. It is good to be back. Feels like home.

Come to Como

Another year of sailing begins. We left San Francisco on April 1st and traveled back to Milan. Rather than stay in the city, we headed north about an hour and a half to Lake Como. It is an idyllic lake area with steep shear mountains framing clear alpine lakes. The biggest of the lakes is Como. It has been the playground for the rich and royal for centuries. Amazing villas show off their wealth and prestige along the waterfront. While there are many impressive villas, there are 4 that command the crowning glory of the region. These date back to the 18th century and include Villa Carlotta, built for the Milanese marques the Giorgio Clerici and completed in 1745. In 1843, it was given as a wedding present by Princess Marianna of Prussia to her daughter Charlotte, after whom the villa is named. As impressive as the villa is, the grounds are certainly equal to the beauty. While the gardens were manicured and dotted with spots of brilliant annuals, we were there about a month early. The rhododendrons, camellias and azaleas that towered over 10 feet high were budding and about to burst forth in a spectacular blaze of color. Our favorite town was Bellagio, which is at the head of the peninsula where the lake breaks into two legs. This is one of those towns that knows it is as cute as a postcard and caters to the tourist trade that want to live like royalty at least for a week. Three of the main villas are within site of each other. The fourth one is further south on the west side of the lake. George Clooney bought villa Oleander on the west side of the lake and is “the” celebrity of the region.

Wow What a Duomo

The next morning, we jumped on the subway to begin our site seeing adventures. Steve tells me the first thing on the list of must-sees is the Milan cathedral. I have seen so many fantastic churches that I kinda rolled my eyes, but went along. When we came out of the subway, we are faced with one top three cathedrals I have ever seen in my life. And I don’t even know for sure what the other two would be. This church is so over the top. It is a gothic church covered with statues and a lacy top of stone carved gothic arches and spires. This thing has more statues on it than entire European countries. And that is saying something. Beautiful stain glass windows punctuate the outside walls making the whole church very delicate. I was wowed by something that I never expected to be impressed with. We wandered through a half a dozen museums and wandered through the “designer section” of town that makes Rodeo drive look like a slum. Yeah it is pretty up scale. Who’s who in the fashion industry all have posh stores where they only buzz you in. There are about 4 clerks to every shopper. We just googled through the windows and made catty remarks about some of the really far out designs.

The Last of IT

As we wing our way home we stopped over in Milan for a couple of days. It is a city that I have always wanted to visit. This is a very modern bustling city with the vibrancy of modern life threaded together with a glorious past. This is the city of Leonardo Da Vinci who spent most of his adult life there. It is also the home of one of his most iconic paintings, “The Last Supper”. DaVinci was commissioned to do a fresco in the newly built Convent of Santa Maria della Grazie. Except that Da Vinci did not want to be confined by the limitations of fresco painting. So he sealed the wall with tar pitch and gesso, and began to paint in the same way he painted his famous canvases. By doing this, he could add more detail and more subtleties than traditional fresco painting. The results were spectacular. It was hailed a masterpiece as soon as it was done. Unfortunately the technique did not work. Water weeped into the wall and the paint began to peel off even during Da Vinci’s lifetime. By 1556 — fewer than sixty years after it was finished, the painting was already "ruined" and so deteriorated that the figures were unrecognizable. The painting began a series of disastrous restorations starting as early as 1726. Each restoration effort seemed to be a reconstruction or interpretation of this masterpiece. I was wondering if there would even be anything left that Da Vinci had actually painted. While I wanted to see this iconic painting I wasn’t expecting much. What I saw was spectacular. There was a final restoration that lasted 21 years. It was finally completed in 1999. The claim is the technicians were able to remove all of the added paint, grim and additions to the painting and getting back to the original brushstrokes of this renaissances master. It is a beautiful painting with much of the original detail still in tact. Well worth a trip to Milan to see.

Rising Out of the Ashes

We are now coming into the home stretch with our winter port only a week away. One of the charming cities we visited on the east coast of Sicily is Catania. It is a big brute of a city with grimy grand buildings that make a strong baroque statement. It contains some of the most imaginative lava-built baroque buildings in Sicily. This is a city that has been around for centuries. Strategically placed for trade between eastern and western Europe, it has had its share of conquerors and commercial success. Things flowed to a stop when Etna erupted in 1669 sending a mile wide lava flow that swallowed up most of the city. What was left all came crumbling down in a devastating earthquake in 1693. You would think with such traumatic destruction, the story of Catania would end. But instead, the residents took the lava and cut blocks of this black stone and rebuilt everything grander and more elaborate than ever. The black stone is found on most of the buildings, churches and homes. They took the blocks and made solid streets that have been walked and driven on every since. It is a credit to the people of this town to take what has been given them and turn it into one of the most interesting cities along the coast. I really enjoyed strolling through the open plazas and crowded markets. It is a city that has energy.

Go West Young Man

The sailing season is quickly coming to a close. While the weather remains sunny and pleasant for the most part, we are resigned to heading to Italy where we plan to keep the boat for the winter. So we turn west from Albania and head for the shores if Italy. The crossing is about 10 hours. Fortunately the weather was wonderful, the seas pretty calm and with a little wind, we were even able to sail part of the time. We skip our way along the eastern coast of Italy taking bites of pizza and licks of gelato as we go. It is nice to be back. Italy is such a wonderful country. I am looking forward to spending next summer sailing Sicily.