Sunday 10^th August

Lazy day with the morning spent exploring the old  town (Ortiga) and viewing the delightful streets and buildings, quite a few of which have undergone a considerable amount of restoration. Quite a history here as it dates back to 743 BC when first founded by colonists from Corinth and quickly went on become the city-state of Magna Graecia rivalling even Athens in power! It became the largest fortified city of the Greek world with half a million inhabitants and a large fleet and in 413 BC defeated the Athenian fleet and then went on to enjoy 200 years of prosperity controlling the Western Med until it fell out with Rome and was conquered. It suffered extensive damage during the second World War when it was bombed by both the Allies and the Germans, but despite all this there are a considerable number of remains from the old Greek city.

We spotted a very nice looking roof terrace restaurant overlooking the natural harbour and anchorage and so booked a table for the evening. Pretty much everything was closed however, so we returned to Serafina for lunch and a bit of a siesta, however the siesta bit never quite happened as we pressed the generator into service and ran several loads of washing and got various jobs done.

In the evening we took the dinghy over to the port to have a drink in the square outside the cathedral, before going for our meal at 8.00pm. All went very well until we arrived (mostly dry from the choppy trip across the bay) and I discovered that I had overlooked bringing any shoes. So Sarah pressed on to enjoy a drink and watch the passeggiata, which is the evening parading along the streets of most towns by pretty much everyone looking to impress, whilst I motored back across the bay to get some footwear!

Met Sarah for a swift catch-up drink and then we went and had a fantastic meal sat at the front of the terrace (good job we booked as the place became packed) Afterwards we took a look at the large motor cruisers backed up to the main town quay (the really big boats were anchored out in the bay with us) and had to photo a couple in particular as they really were so tacky! We will post these pictures and quite a few others taken over the past 6 days just as soon as we can get wi-fi or a connection in a cafe at www.rhbell.com . Sarah has reminded me that one of these on the quay was big enough to have three complete decks each with its own ‘themed’ patio area and don’t they just love to be looked at!! Finally, we retired to Serafina for what was a stiflingly hot night, sleep not being helped by some dreadful live singing from one of the bars over in the town. (In total contrast to the very good group who were playing there last night.)

Monday 11^th August.

Both went ashore this morning to undertake different shopping expeditions. Sarah took the bike and eventually was able to get a big food shop done in preparation for tomorrows 2 night trip to Greece. I went in search of an Internet cafe that would let me plug my laptop into their system and some electrical bits and pieces to either solve the problem of the non-working remote anchor winch control or to replace the control unit with a three way switch as a temporary repair. This turned out to be a long hot walk around a very large town that has to all intents and purposes gone away on holiday for 4 weeks. Found helpful shops that gave directions to other shops that were bound to have the part in question, but they always turned out to be shut or unable to help. Neither of the two (empty) internet cafes were prepared to allow me to use my laptop and it was only at the last moment that I got lucky with the three way, waterproof switch. We met up back at the dinghy (Doris) and Sarah related having witnessed the rather unusual site of an Italian traffic policewoman at work, from the lofty heights of a wheelchair! Needless to say the traffic was gridlocked due to extensive road works whilst the poor policewoman had to negotiate triple parked cars and pavements without ramps.

Back to Serafina to rewire the anchor remote gear (once again huge thanks to Robert Forsdike for guidance over the phone for the new wiring scheme) whilst Sarah planned the journey for tomorrow. Not looking forward to dealing with the Greek bureaucrats again. All the pilot books etc. tell of typical red tape and dubious charging schemes as well as the need to arrive at a registered ‘Port of Entry’ before going anywhere else in the country. Not sure they have fully embraced the ethos of the EU just yet, but bet they have worked out how to get all the grants etc.

Going ashore again this evening to enjoy the view and a quiet drink followed by some of the fantastic ice cream that Sicily specialises in.

Tomorrow’s log might be a bit hit or miss as we intend to leave Sicily around 2.00pm and will not arrive in Argostoli (Cephalonia) until Thursday.