{"id":16365,"date":"2026-10-18T00:04:17","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T05:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=16365"},"modified":"2026-10-18T00:04:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T05:04:17","slug":"history-overload","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=16365","title":{"rendered":"History overload"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I have to admit that I am struggling on how to keep up on writing about the amazing places that we have visited over the last 6 weeks. It is just a blur and to try and chronicle all the details is probably a bad idea and would probably be as boring to you as it will be tough for me. To recall exactly which beautiful historic building from 200 BC was which and if it has been destroyed, rebuilt and destroyed again by someone along the way is a bit beyond me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps it would be appropriate to focus more on the “hither an yon” part, and what it’s been like to bring Pandora along the coast to get to those amazing places. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To that point, sometimes it has been a beautiful journey with good wind and calm seas and other times, it’s been a trial with lumpy seas and not nearly enough wind. And, often it feels a lot like the latter. As we go from place to place, motoring is more often than not what we have had to do. And, more than a few anchorages have vacillated from lovely and serene to hours of “secure all compartments” lest everything end up on the floor as the boat is subjected to violent rocking all night (and day) long. All and all, it’s been wonderful to visit all these places but it has not been without it’s challenges. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to waiting for favorable winds, we had to pick our time to go through the Strait of Mesinna with a fair current. And the current rips, at 4.5 kts at times. The strait is only about 2 miles wide and a major pinch point and as we passed though it, often at better than 11kts over the bottom, the water swirled in giant whirlpools. Fortunately, the Italian Navy has a site that offers current predictions to help time passages. When the wind opposes the current big seas kick up. We were lucky to time it perfectly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course remains of a fort guarding the strait. What else is new? With forts built over thousands of years, they are everywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And the ancient in contrast with a modern radio tower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Many, many ships. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And a parade of ferries going every which way. Each more brightly painted than the next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And every so often, a remarkable castle, village, fort, whatever but always old and spectacular… Imagine building something like that with nothing but brute strength to haul the tons of materials up the hill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Just about anywhere with a beautiful view, a village high up on a hill. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We are currently in Syracusa, our last major stop before heading to Licata where Pandora will be stored for the winter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here she is on the dock and it is a real treat to be able to put coffee down without a fear that the cup will slide and spill. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It is a very small and fairly well protected harbor, adjacent to an amazing city that has been populated since around 400BC. And speaking of old, it is hard for me to get my head around the idea that this place has been “civilized” for 2,500 years. Compare that to our recent crowing about our 250th anniversary in the US, a drop in the bucket by these standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, it is worth noting that it has been a parade of civilizations over the millenniums, each of which had their moments and they too are now long gone. And those that came after that are long gone as well, time after time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And thinking of what’s next for the US, brings me to heading home, and our STRONG desire to cast our votes on November 3rd. Will we be around in another 250 years? Lately, I am not so sure but if things continue we may find that we have plenty of billionaires even if they don’t have anything to buy with all that wealth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, getting home in time depends on what happens with Mt Etna and her tendency lately to spew ash into the air which forces the airport we plan to fly out of to close down. Fingers crossed. Need to make our vote count or at least be counted, I hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enough of that for now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before arriving here, we stopped in Taormina, yet another city founded by those widely traveled Greeks and after they had their “best days”, they descended into corruption, were replaced by others, and they by others…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The view of the city from the deck of Pandora was a sight to behold. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Even better after dark. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The harbor was basically an open roadstead, like most places we have been since leaving Sardinia. Even with strong west winds, from which we were protected by huge mountains, the wind spilled over the mountains producing very strong gusts from many different directions. However, it was mostly calm, well mostly. The view of the sunrise was stunning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And changed moment by momentt as the sun rose over the sea. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We spent one day high up in the city and had a very elegant lunch overlooking the ocean. Pandora, a tiny dot in the middle of this image.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pandora a thousand feet below. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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My date…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We went ashore at the only place that wasn’t a vertical wall of jagged rocks, a tiny spot behind a small breakwater that partially protected some fishing boats from the swells. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For practical purposes, most were pulled up on the beach as it is rough more often than not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Once ashore, it was like most any city in these parts. We caught a taxi up the hill. Note the sign warning of windy roads. Nothing new there. ALL roads seem to be windy except the ones immediately along the coastline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The fact that these “anchorages” are really just a dent in the shoreline has made for some difficult nights at anchor. And it wasn’t uncommon for us to arrive in calm conditions and find that things got pretty sporty a few hours later. It was often quite exhausting, making our time in marinas all the more sweet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In spite of the classic charm of the village up on the hill, many of the shops and restaurants on the narrow streets were crowded tourists from the cruise ships and dotted with shops that would be right at home on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Along with tony shops, beautiful historic squares and buildings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As we departed for the run to Syracusa the views were breathtaking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Here in Syracusa there is plenty of history and too much to cover here. Besides, what more can I say except, well, it too is amazing and really old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I will note one cathdral in particular, the Cathedral of Syracuse, which has one of the most remarkable histories of any church in Italy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It was originally built around 480 BC as a Greek temple dedicated to Athena but was converted into a Christian church in the 7th century. Rather than demolish the temple, which happened, more often than not, the builders incorporated its massive Doric columns into the cathedral walls. The building has survived earthquakes, invasions, and countless changes in religion and architecture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Its elaborate Baroque fa\u00e7ade was added in the 18th century, making the cathedral an extraordinary blend of ancient Greek and Christian history. Quite a contrast of styles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Of course, there is also a bustling market here, with vendors selling a remarkable array of food and, well, stuff of every sort. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So much stuff to choose from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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They say that a guy wearing a bow tie is making a statement so what sort of statement is being made when the tie is combined with a bushy mustache, beard and suspenders? I had to wait in line to get a clear shot as so many were taking his picture. I have no idea what he was selling but what a look. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Oh yeah, and there are plenty of interesting boats here. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I spied a couple of local fisherman mending their nets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And some interesting fish traps, lots of fish traps. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And this submarine. I have no idea what it was and doubt that it actually “subs”. It is red and unique. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And, where the land meets the sea, people want to go swimming. And when the wall that keeps that ocean from destroying everything in it’s path makes it tough to get to that water, you build a staircase. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Or yet another fort to keep out both the waves and bad guys. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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So, here we sit with about two weeks left until we fly back to the US. It’s been a remarkable journey, to be sure, but with plenty of discomfort along the way with lumpy seas, not enough wind and nights with little sleep at anchor as the boat wallowed in the swell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don’t want to paint too bleak a picture of this but there have been some challenging moments to be sure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, to see the coastline, dotted with history, as we made our way from place to place, is an experience that really could not be duplicated if done any other way. To travel in the wake of the Greeks, Romans, Muslims, Norman French and, of course, the Italians is to see these places that honors their history just can’t be duplicated via a cruise ship or car ride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, as annoying as a rolly anchorage can be, it pales in comparison to what those “ancients” experienced as we get hot showers and when we need more water we fired up the watermaker, something that those travelers could not have imagined. And don’t forget having access to broadband and Chat GPT to ask “tell me about this fort”, upload a photo and get a detailed explanation about that very spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is true that while Brenda is generally unamused by discomfort, even she realizes that the payoff in what we have seen and experienced is, well mostly, worth it as we trace the path of those who have traveled these waters before us over the centuries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In spite of these wondeful experiences, I will admit to feeling a bit of “history overload” as we prepare to make our way on the final leg to Licata. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After returning home to vote and prepare to huddle around the relative warmth of a crackling fire and our home heat pump this winter,, at least I can take solace in the fact that we are not paying over $6\/gallon vs just under $3 that we paid when we installed our heat pump two years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, not to forget our self driving Tesla and while I can’t condone a lot of what Musk has done politically of late, he does make an amazing car and now one that actually flies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imagine how the Greeks would feel if they were to wake up in our world, surely a different sort of “history overload”. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time to wrap this up and head out for a pastry and capucinno as I am getting hungry. My willingness to handle discomfort does have it’s limits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides, it will soon be time to think about where to go in the spring. I’m thinkin that we need to see more of that Greek stuff. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How about Greece? Yeah, that’s the ticket. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More to come, a lot more. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have to admit that I am struggling on how to keep up on writing about the amazing places that we have visited over the last 6 weeks. It is just a blur and to try and chronicle all the details is probably a bad idea and would probably be as boring to you as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","_s2mail":"yes","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16365"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16409,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16365\/revisions\/16409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}