Siracusa, Sicily and Valetta, Malta
17 September 2008 | Sicily and Malta
First mate Ziggy MacKenzie
The following blogs are slightly out of chronological order and occurred prior to our arrival in Tunisia.
Sailing out of Riposto, we made our way in the evening sun to what we thought would be our last stop in Italy. Under Johnnie's watch we navigated the coastline and anchored perfectly at midnight in the harbour of Siracusa on the southern tip of Sicily. The next morning a Lagoon 420 anchored close by and John, who doubles as Social Director, dinghied over to greet John and Gillian, a couple from Australia who had picked up their Cat in France and were making their way slowly back to Oz.
After a quick chat, the crew of Windancer dinghied into Siracusa where for the first time in Italy we experienced the locals' market lined with vegetable, fruit, spice, cheese, meet and fish stalls. The fish vendors were the liveliest hawking their fresh catch upon tables laden with fish, mussels, squid, octopus and swordfish whose heads were proudly on display. At the end of the market was a beautiful wine, cheese and meat shop where we sampled all our goods before buying and walked out with delicious cheeses, salami and a few bottles of wine. Our only regret was that we didn't know how good one of those bottles of wine was, for had we known then, what we now we would have bought a case. (We shared it a few days later in Malta with some other sailors and fell instantly in love - velvety smooth and rich. And in case you are wondering, what is it called, that too is a mystery for we tossed the bottle.)
That evening in Siracusa we had dinner with John and Gillian at a local restaurant famous for its spaghetti. Dinner was slightly delayed as our Australian friends had to return to the boat for Gillian to change after she fell in the harbour while navigating her way out of the dinghy - the 5th time in three months!!! And the kids think I have a tough time getting in and out of the dinghy. We couldn't leave Italy without one last visit to the gelateria where the kids dined on a local favourite - brioche con gelato, a puff pastry filled with your ice cream of choice.
That night we bid our friends goodbye and set sail for an overnighter to Malta in calm seas and wind.
As you sail into Malta, you get the feeling you have just come across the largest sandcastle in the world. The capital Valletta juts out from Grand Harbour and her sandy coloured buildings blend together into a blur of beige. We arrived on Sunday, September 7th, a national holiday in Malta commemorating their battles in WWII. Everything was closed and while John went exploring in St Julians, a small tourist town, the kids and I swam until Jenny fell victim to a jellyfish sting. There we were peacefully swimming in the refreshing waters until Jenny's ear piercing scream broke the silence "OWWWW, something bit me!" We swam quickly back to the boat, applied afterbite and a special ointment and after 30 minutes the pain dissipated leaving a perfectly circular silver-dollar sized mark which lingered for the next few days as a reminder of those nasty beasts.
That night, the local pyrotechnics team set off their fireworks a mere 100 feet from our boat. We had watched them get ready during the day, but had not been told to move our anchorage. With Jim and Geb, a young English couple just returning from a three year circumnavigation, aboard we shared that delicious bottle of wine and watched the festivities amidst the deafening roar of the show. It was only towards the finale that we got a bit worried as some of the final rockets shot sideways and sprinkled over Windancer.
Monday, as it turns out, was also a holiday, so we gathered up all our pool gear, dinghied to the local hotel, plunked ourselves into a few loungers and dove into the refreshing pool. Craving freshwater, we were shocked and somewhat disappointed to discover the pool was salt water. All was not lost though, for the indoor pool was fresh water and after lunch we discovered two free computers with unlimited internet access where John and I spent most of the day catching up, checking email, blogs and world news.
Tuesday, Malta was 'open' and we jumped the local bus and headed to Valletta, a 30 minute ride. The buses of Malta are famous, vintage 1950s yellow lories with rounded front ends and no air conditioning. (Note to self - pay attention to the locals for there is a reason they all carry fans. It was brutally hot on the bus and we couldn't wait to get off in the central bus terminal outside the main gates of Valetta.) We wandered down Republic Street, the main thoroughfare and a rather disappointing touristy haven lined with tacky shops and clothing retailers. There were a few gems though - English bookstores and a Mcdonalds where we treated the kids to lunch. We continued to wander the town and after passing the nondescript entrance, made our way to St. John's Co Cathedral.
One of the few churches to charge admission we paid our entrance fee, received our individual audio taped tours and I donned the polyester scarf for my shoulders and wrap skirt to cover my knees. The contrast between the drab sandy exterior and interior took our collective breath away. There wasn't a square inch of floor, wall or ceiling not adorned with sculptures, carvings, inlaid marble or frescoes. We journeyed from station to station listening to the narrative of this remarkable church. The following is from the visitor's guide:
"St. John's Co-Cathedral is a unique monument of international importance. It owes its rich history and artistic heritage to the fact that for over 200 years it was the conventional church of the Order of the Knights of St John. The Grand Masters and Knights donated gifts of high artistic value and made enormous contributions to enrich it with only the best works of art by leading artists available to them. As a result it is a most glorious ad magnificent artistic expression of the High Baroque era. The Knights were noblemen from the most important families of Europe and they had a mission - that is to protect the Catholic faith and Europe from the attacks of the Ottoman Turks. After the attach known as the Great Siege in 1565 it seems that the Knights vowed to turn Malta into a fortress that befitted a military Order with a capital city worthy of so illustrious a group of noblemen. Pride of place in the centre of the new city Valletta was reserved for their Church. The building was completed in 1577 and dedicated to St John the Baptists, the patron saint of the Order.
The plain fa�ade flanked by two large bell towers is sever and has the character of a fortress reflecting the sober mood of the Order after the Great Siege. In the 17th century, the Grand Masters ordered the redecoration of the interior ushering in the dawn of the Baroque style and its flamboyant character. Under the Calabrain artist Mattia Preti, the naves were decorated to honour the Grand Masters and the walls were carved with elaborate motifs characteristic of Baroque ornamentation transforming the walls into a riot of gilded foliage, flowers and angels."
Back to me: the two sections of the church we loved the most were the inlaid floors and the Oratory housing the paitings of the renowned artist Michelangelo Merisi, known as Caravaggio. The floor throught the cathedral consisting of a collection of tombstones. They reveal the stories of important knights, their acts of chivalry, religious fervour and their desire to be remembered. In the Oratory, the largest painting eer done by Caravaggio and the only piece signed (in the blood of the slain St. John) hangs above the altar. The Beheading of St John the Baptist is remarkable in its harsh reality and chiaroscioro technique (the use of light and shadows) that makes it almost look like a photograph. Other treasures in the cathedral included a room of tapestries on the cartoons of Flemish artish Rubens.
We must have spent over two hours in the cathedral and the entrance fee was worth every penny. We couldn't get over the amazing contrast between the plain exterior and over-the-top ornate interior. (I encourage you to google both the cathedral and Caravaggio for examples of the beauty.)
We continued to explore the old city and headed down to the harbour where we picked up an authentic Hard Rock Malta t-shirt (we thought it was a rather cool one to own, couldn't be that many people who have been there, but then, in Connor's twisted thinking, he did think the Hard Rock Vatican City would be cooler!!)
Returning to the boat via the still boiling bus, John and Connor got off in the main town to pick up boat parts while Jenny and I returned to the boat. We joined Jim and Geb for a drink on their boat that night and then next day, after a bit of parts and food provisioning and saying good bye to our sailing mates (including the Australian couple who had just anchored in the same bay), we set sail in the evening. We headed away from Europe and made our way to Africa!