It has been nine days and seven stops since The Strait of Messina. This is an absolutely beautiful part of Italy and one could spend days (maybe months) cruising through here and leisurely enjoying the stops. Alas, that was not our agenda for this trip. It is all a bit of a blur, I look forward to recapping it here to help with my own memory of the places.
We had two nights at the seaside town of Tropea.
So grateful the weather dictated that we stay an extra day here; otherwise, we might have missed this gem. It was well worth the 200-step climb to the Old Town to experience the bustling town and spectacular views.
We had a lovely warm and calm day for our passage to Cetraro. Cetraro was a quick (one night) stop. It will be remembered fondly for the best mussels ever! The bruscetta and pizza were also delicious… …oops, failed to get a picture of the pizza before we devoured it.
After another “one of the best meals ever”, we got an early morning start to Agropoli.
It was beautiful day for the passage to Agropoli. We were excited to see a big pod of dolphins, they swam with the boat for quite a while.
Agropoli may be best remembered for the dock manager (could have been a model), Vincenzo (picture available upon request).
We decided to spend two nights in Agropoli so that we could take the train to Naples (Napoli).
On the way to our next stop at Monte di Procida, we could see the last bit of the Amalfi Coast and the Island of Capri as we sailed between them.
From the marina at Procida, you could look across and see the resort Island of the same name. The village was uphill from the port. We were quite taken by the shops that were built into the side of the hill.
Now we have a stop without pictures. We decided early morning at Procida that the conditions were not good for getting away. After going back to bed for a couple hours, we decided conditions had improved and we should get underway after all. We headed to a marina at San Felice Circeo only to be turned away at the gate. With the nearly two meter waves, the entrance was not deep enough for us to get in. We backtracked to a nearby anchorage which started out fine; but, got rather rolly through the night. We hauled anchor just before daybreak and headed to our penultimate stop at the modern Porto Turistico di Roma Marina at Ostia (aka Porto Roma). It was a “character-building” passage… yada, yada, yada… …some things needed to be cleaned and dried out when we a arrived. We were rewarded that evening with a rainbow in the east and a beautiful sunset to the west.
Our final stop for this season was just a hop around the corner from Porto Roma into the Tiber River. After more than 800 nautical miles this spring, we are at the Blue Dolphin Marina in Fiumicino. This river living is a whole new thing, kind of reminds me of what being on the bayou might be like. It is quite natural, lots of birds; even with all the boats and traffic.
Roma is 40 minutes from here by train or car, we have already been once. The airport is very nearby. We are hoping that Fiumicino will be a good base for kicking off our next explorations.
