Xmas at Porto Turistico Marina di Ragusa

It doesn't matter how you say it but Christmas really is the season of good cheer and we have had plenty of good cheer this year.

It is time to think of our family and friends far away in New Zealand and to send you all our love and wishes for a wonderful Merry Christmas with your loved ones and a very healthy year for 2012. We miss you all and you will be in our thoughts on Xmas day as we celebrate it in Paris with Richard's daughter Emily, husband Marc and Mother in Law Helen.

It is time for us to give thanks for the many blessings we have enjoyed this year, for the opportunity to be out in the world and meeting people from all walks of life.

Our time on the marina has impressed on us the goodness of people both in the cruising community and in the local community here in Marina di Ragusa whose hospitality and kindness has been extended to us in many ways large and small.

We find ourselves getting to know people who in another life we would never have had anything in common with and it is a huge blessing to realise that it is not our place to judge those with different ways, opinions or lives to ours, but to enjoy their friendship and go with the flow. We all have a right to be.

With that thought we will celebrate Xmas with Joy and Love to the World. Peace to all.

Following are some of our special 'moments' leading up to Christmas.



The music group surprises everyone one evening around 5pm as we walk around the pontoons singing Christmas Carols. Richard is known as a 'voice' around the marina, leading the carol singing with Julia from SY Fynetyme. He is an integral part of the music group and we all let our voices soar in the open air and with lots of encouragement and appreciation from the various boats.




SY Freebird is very very hospitable and provides us with some lovely cocktails made from rum and some other ingredients to warm us and carry us along the way. Pippy and Tina are right into the mood.

Catania, the Fish Market, the Opera, Mt Etna

This billboard catches our eye.... 2012 is coming, enjoy every second! Sooo off we go...!


















Parking nearby, we stroll through the fish market, eyes goggling at the many species on offer.

The cheeses, fruit and vegetables and other items of interest catch our eye as we stroll by.

Richard sizes up the monster turkey.















The Opera

We are lucky to be able to acquire some seats for the Opera Rigoletto, being performed in the Catania Opera House (Teatro Massimo Bellini) for 5.30 pm on 13 December. The only problem is, we hear that people here 'dress' for the opera and we realise we do not have any 'smart' clothes with us on the boat.

Teatro Massimo Bellini is the oldest Opera House in Sicily and is a grand old lady with a sumptuous decor inside.

Richard manages to borrow a jacket and black tie, and Pippy is luckily loaned some black boots by Janine from SY Orca Joss. However she still has to find something to wear so rushes off to the nearest Saturday morning market the week before the opera and has a lot of fun which turns out to be an adventure in itself.

There are clothes stalls everywhere at this market and the prices are very good. Wandering along Pippy notices one stall in particular with Sicilian women crowding around two and three deep, walking away with armfuls of garments. Being very nosey, Pippy elbows her way in and to her great pleasure finds piles and piles of designer label clothing being sold for 3 Euro a piece!

An hour and a half later and loaded down with black jacket, sparkly top, evening bag, silk pyjamas, silk dressing gown, gorgeous white woollen wrap, a second sparkly skirt if the top does not work and a black top. There is a new outdoors jacket for Richard in the mix and a couple of other things besides. Given that we had to leave our winter clothes behind in NZ, we have managed to fill a few gaps.

However, there is one slight problem. On getting everything home and having a close look Pippy discovers that her black jacket is pre-loved, and has not been cleaned. It brings with it a slightly musty smell which diminishes somewhat after being hung out in the sun and sprayed with sanitiser, but there is no time to have it dry cleaned before the opera.









Inside the theatre we have champagne in the magnificent reception room at the bar in the corner.

The rows of boxes inside make a festive sight. We are seated in one of these boxes on lovely velvet chairs and crane our necks over the balcony to see the stage below.

For a change of scenery a glance up to the ceiling is always an option.


The opera is superb, as are the surroundings. It is a truly magical experience and Pippy takes off the jacket and uses the woollen wrap around her bare shoulders and the sparkly top.

The soprano is amazing, young and beautiful, reaching high and seemingly unattainable notes with ease. The tenor (playing the Count) is stunning and we are entranced with the performance of the lead part, Rigoletto whose base baritone voice fills the theatre. It is a tragic story and very sad at the end.

(The occasional musty waft from the jacket hanging over the chair back is not a problem and merely makes Pippy smile serenely!) What a fabulous experience.

Mt Etna

Its an early start the next morning so we can drive to the 2,000 m level car park at Etna Sud and walk from there. We review the walks along the way in the guide book and decide on which one we will do. Its 7 km long and in parts traverses volcanic shale so the right tramping gear is required. Steve and Katie are well kitted out but Richard and Pippy do not have the right footwear, so plan to go part of the way then return down the same track.


We are lucky with the weather which is clear and sunny with only a light breeze, which still has an icy chill to it but we are adequately clad with several layers.

It is a couple of hours of steady uphill climbing. The track also goes down sometimes, so we lose height that we have gained, and take off our outer layers as we walk up the sheltered side of the mountain in the sunshine.


Soon we come out on to a ridge which overlooks a graphic lava valley which is the result of an eruption in 1987.



We are not alone and have a good chat to this mountain guide and his two clients. We discuss the weather as there is a bit of cloud coming in and he assures us it is quite safe to be on the mountain today, but urges extreme care once the track ends and the volcanic shale has to be traversed.



We move on and it is not long after this that the track runs out and we are picking our footsteps between sharp thorny bushes as we climb uphill over rocks and ridges. Its time for Richard and Pippy to wave goodbye to Steve and Katie who walk on up.


We turn back and make our way down. The views are breathtaking as we stop for lunch in the warm sunshine.


...and its a quick walk down the mountain again to the carpark. The last kilometer is a bit of a struggle as it is uphill again and the wind becomes cold. We have had a good walk today and enjoy a hot coffee in the cafe before getting on the road again.

Pantalica Valley of the Anapo and Cava Grande Stream

It is our great good fortune to be invited by Madeline and Roy from SY Mythrill to visit this famous nature reserve, nestled in the mountains north west of Syracusa in the province of Syracuse.

We leave the marina very early on Saturday 3 December, a gorgeous sunny day, for the 2 hour drive to the start of our planned walk. We are really excited to be getting out of the Marina and into the countryside for the first time. This is just great!



There are many interesting walks, horse and mountain bike tracks in this region,with abundant bird life, trout filled streams, and interesting flora.





It is an area of deep rifts with running water at the bottom and high plateaux, and home to many important species of bird, insect and animal life.


Byzantine churches and necropolises and many prehistoric grave sites (5,000) are distributed along the steep wall of the Anapo river.



Our walk takes us from the ancient remains of a Prince's Palace on the top ridge, down to the river 1400 metres below, then back up again via a different route.

We are soon passing many cave tombs and stop to admire them as we go down towards the bottom of the gorge.





It does not seem to take long to get to the bottom where we walk along an old railway track converted into a good walkway. We soon come across some locals burning off weeds which they have cleaned up.



They invite us for coffee and we swap for some chocolate biscuits we have in our packs. We stand around as the coffee is brewed in a small pot over a gas ring, then we all have a tiny shot served in small plastic cups.



We have a lot of fun with these people and they take us to a spot on the edge of the river off the track where we see a most magnificant sight along the river.


We could almost be in New Zealand!

We continue our walk, finding an interesting small museum with many local artefacts on display and well documented information on all the species which inhabit the area including wolves.

There are many photo opportunities...





We climb back up to the top and sprawl on the stones of the Prince's Palace while we eat a late lunch, driving back home through some very interesting and picturesque old towns.

Thanks Maddy and Roy, we arrive back at the Marina feeling that we have explored one of Sicily's very special sites.