Jungle Jim: Viva Italie!

After 3 days of heavy winds and rain, it's time to set sail for new port and, in this case a new country - Italy. But first we see the rainbow over the starboard bow of Jungle.

And the green hills left by the rains.

The Admiral and I sail for 3 full days and 2 nights as we have 300 miles to cover. Night view of Jungles pilot house.

A peek at our chart plotters shows us rounding the "toe" of the boot of Italy.

We see for the first time, beatiful Italian countryside.

A structure of antiquity that now doubles as an highway over pass. Why not.

We turn up the Straight of Messina and come to the narrowest point - some 1.5 miles across between Italy and Sicily. Here a ferry is moving from the mainland to Messina, Sicily. We'll stay out of his way.

There is another one of us, heading south.

And now we see the break to the Tyrrenian Sea. Currents are moving against us at 3 kts. No problem for Jungle.

Now we are over the top of the "toe" and we are inundated with historical structures, ruins, etc. I don't know where to begin but there is a lot of cool still there.

Our destination is the port town of Scilla, and that is the northwest side as we approach.

We sail around to the northeast side and find the anchorage and harbor. There is our spot to anchor.

There is the harbor.

The fishing boats are kept on a launching ramp and I'll use that later.

As you can see we got off Jungle and walked up into the town. Love these villages up a cliff!

The streets appear to be attached to the houses. Everything is integrated into the hillside. They do experience earthquakes in these parts.

Up top in the town, we take a look back towards the Straight of Messina (Stretto Di Messina) and our way here.

A look towards Jungle.

And a look north to the ancient castle. They were running some special extent up there, so we didn't bother to visit.

We can't get enough of these tiny alleyways that run through there towns.

We just follow them along to see where they go.

He is a one boat launch ramp and Jungle close by. Oh yeah, it's 5 PM and EVERTHING is shut down until 8 PM. Out problem is we are hungry now.

Jenée spots a sign and climbs up these stairs to see if it's open. It's not, but the sweet old lady/owner said she will open for us. That's me at the bottom, excited for my stroll up.

Nice balcony table for 2, view of the harbor, Jenée's happy.

A view east over the village, I'm happy.

A nice dinner and view of Jungle and we are all happy.

Now the long walk back down.

A most pleasant stroll indeed.

OK, we sailed the next morning, north again, to Vibo Marina. (marina also means village). From there we met a lovely couple, Stephen and Nancy on s/v Fairwyn. It is a meticulously maintained Stepens and Sparkman designed wooden boat, much like the one featured in The Curious Life of Benjamin Button. I'll get some photos later. Right now we are taking the train (on the restaurant car) north to Pompei. That's right, a little history tour.

We are at the entrance and in the arts and sports area.

A look onside the theater.

Everthing looks in fine shape.

This is one of many recreated vineyards, right down to the grape variety. The wine produced here is called Villa del Misteri, we'll have to try some.

In case it wasn't obvious, Pompei is a huge place - a full city.

There are streets going everywhere.

Outside view of the theater.

Side view of the nearby athletic facility, built specifically for the younger generation to maintain fit mind and body.

Here is a look inside. There were pools, tracks and a gymnasium. My take is Pompei was an upscale town.

Another peek inside.

Here is a view of the baths/pools of various sizes.

We are moving down one of the main streets.

This is a famous shot of a resident of Pompei when the 79AD eruption occurred. What I learned is that of the 20,000 inhabitants of Pompei, only 2000 perished. Secondly, Pompei was not covered in lava as I had thought, but rather the heavy ash fallout. It will kill you just the same, however it provides different preservation characteristics and challenges.

Some of the fresco artwork was preserved and remains in place.

Many of the residences were bright back to life. Much of the reclaimed pieces are in the museum in Napoli.

I liked the effect and light through this building.

I zoomed in and saw this 3 legged table, about the only piece of furniture I've seen. The story behind this is the table belonged to Casca Longus who was the first to strike Ceaser on his fateful day (Ides of March 44BC). For a while, he Brutus and the others were held in regard, but soon exiled to the east where he died along with Brutus in 42 BC in the battle of Phillipi and Macedonia. All Casca's belongings were confiscated and sold. This rich guy from Pompei picked it up - maybe as a good luck charm.