May 29 On to Catania, Sicily

One of Sicily's main features is Mt. Etna, Europe's largest and most active volcano, dwarfing nearby Mt Vesuvius.  We were there a mere 7 days after its most recent eruption on the 22nd, seen in this link.

An older photo of Mt Etna erupting

Our bus took us to this lodge near the Crateri Sylvestri on the side of Etna. where we could explore inactive craters.  

Lava bomb

 A local Sicilian with his pet goat.

After our Mt Etna excursion we traveled to the beautiful hillside city of Taormina where we found this beautiful mosaic on the wall of the church.

the bay and beach below Taormina

 Still in beautiful (relatively) condition this Greco-Roman amphitheater attracts multitudes every year.
As with many similar structures of that period, the acoustics here are still good enough to draw musicals, plays and operas to its stage.

 Here is a link to a beautiful youtube tour of the theater which will give you a much clearer picture of the way we saw it.

We walked all over the city; (click on the link for a virtual tour) the amphitheater was the highlight.  Tomorrow it's the mainland of Italy again.

May 28 Out of the Adriatic and on to Malta

May 27th was spent relaxing at sea, with nothing to do except watch the waves, eat, rest, read and enjoy a show in the evening. The next morning we arrived in the harbor of Valletta, Malta: as beautiful a "sail-in" as ever there was! 

 An elevator can take arriving individuals directly up to the city, but, as we were taking a paid-tour, a bus was used to take us all over the island.

 We were met there by our guide Maria and escorted to our bus which took us into the city proper.  Maria is half-Maltese half-Italian: so she speaks with her hands the entire time!

She led us around Malta from Valletta to Mdina and was a wonderful source of information.  She was shorter in stature than all of us, so, we lost sight of her many times, but she always found us.

Our great friends Barb and Jim who've taught us so much about the joys of cruising!  They're the real pros!

The "main event" in Valletta is the St John's Co-Cathedral, so named because it shared "cathedral" status with nearby Mdina.  "Cathedral" status is conferred upon a church because a bishop is seated there.  (And no, I'm not leaving an "e" out of Mdina; that is the real spelling.)  The church is very unimpressive from the outside, and while waiting in the very long lines one begins to wonder if it is really worth the bother.  The answer: a resounding "YES!"  In ALL of our travels the interior of this church was the most beautiful!

There is GOLD everywhere!  The Knights of Malta who founded it were extremely wealthy and vied with each other over who would have the most beautiful "chapel" within the cathedral.  Each of the chapels is adorned with the coat of arms of the individual knight. (If you would like to enjoy the interior more, click here for a detailed interactive website of the entire church, and here for details of the inlaid tombs on the floor.)

Just walk through a little of it with us.

Much of St. John's is devoted to the artist Caravaggio who painted some of the most notable works within, including the Beheading of John the Baptist.  His story reads like a modern novel.  

chalk painting of Caravaggio

 In one of his paintings he depicts Salome with the head of John the Baptist on a platter, using his own face on the head.  

Photography within the Caravaggio gallery is prohibited. (click here or on his name for a link to more about this fascinating individual and many of his paintings.)

                                                                                                                                                                We traveled by bus (no, that's not us in the picture!) to the glass works at Mdina: world famous and with productions as beautiful as those of Venice and Murano.

Mdina glassblower at work

Entering the city of Mdina across a stone bridge.  

On the reverse side of this entry arch is this tribute to the Apostle Paul's shipwreck and visit to the island (Acts 27-28) in which he was bitten by a poisonous snake, shook it into the fire and suffered no ill-effects from the bite.  (as prophesied by Jesus in Mark 16:17-18 and NOT as practiced by some Christians as a "demonstration of faith" )  He brought Christianity to the island through this unplanned but God-ordained visit. (For a fascinating glimpse of Biblical archaeology on this subject click here)

Paul shaking the serpent into the fire

 This church in Mdina boasts one of the world's largest domes, in the same circles as the Pantheon of Rome and others.

 The scene from our balcony of Valletta harbor revealed these folks enjoying some leisure time,

while others worked very hard!  We preferred watching these two from our balcony! 

May 26 Cruising the Adriatic Part 7 Dubrovnik, Croatia

We were taken by bus from the ship to the city center just outside the gates to the walled "old town."  Dubrovnik is a medieval city surrounded on all sides with walls.  As we waited for our guide, Dabriella, to join us, we were entertained by this fellow and his lovely granddaughter.

She joined us and escorted us over the drawbridge and into the city center. Of course, as soon as we were able we searched out a geocache in town!  Here's Meg with our GPS standing in front of it, "it" being the old clock tower.  Geocaching takes you to the most interesting spots!

 One side of the old city walls overlooks the port/marina of Dubrovnik.

 Probably the best thing about a tour of Dubrovnik is a complete walk around the city walls.  They are over a mile (6360 feet) in length and beautifully preserved.

After a perfect day, we say goodbye to our lovely and very knowledgeable guide, Dabriella, who is by the way fluent in English, French, Italian and some Spanish.  We hope to see her again, and would recommend her highly on your next trip to Dubrovnik!