4:45 pm, 25 September 2017. iPad Pro 12.9
On the beach at Mykonos
Peregrinus at our Mykonos anchorage, as seen from Ornos Beach.
4:46pm, 5 August 2017. Leica Typ 114.
In Leros
A windmill on its own island, under the watchful eye of the Castle of Our Lady, in Leros. The castle sits where the ancient acropolis of Leros once stood.
Peregrinus stayed at anchor in Leros three nights in late July 2017.
Under a Frankish castle
We arrived back in Rhodes tonight to meet tomorrow our friends Per and Elly, who kindly held a package or two on our behalf.
This time, instead of going into the sterile marina, we anchored under the medieval walls built by the Knights Hospitaller of Saint John. These walls withstood the Egyptian attack of 1444 and the Turk attack of 1480, but in 1522, with only 7,000 Knights to defend against an onslaught of over 100,000 Turks, the city fell for four centuries, until the Italians took it back in 1912.
11 July 2017. Peregrinus freshly arrived from Simi. Leica Typ 114.
In Marina Piccola, Capri
Peregrinus at anchor, in the center of this photo. The boat remained in Marina Piccola, which is no marina at all, but an anchorage, while we spent a few glorious days traversing the island up and down.
There was a financial price to pay, all worth it: the Admiral shopped for made-to-order Capri sandals, jewelry, and clothing. The island still has great local artisans.
13 September 2016 - iPhone 6 Plus
Marina Grande, Capri
The North side of Capri offers little in the way of anchorages, but there were a couple of megayachts anchored right in front of town, so we parked in between two of them, in 120 feet of water.
We then spent the afternoon in idleness, watching the world go by.
As sunset approached, we sailed around the island. We were offered a mooring buoy at the Grotta Azurra, but in the end decided to anchor at Marina Piccola. iPhone 6 Plus. 12 September 2016
A wedding in Ischia
The Lord
Communicates with you in many ways
But verily
Will not ever call you on your cellphone
Therefore
It is useless to have it on
In church
——— Taped on a wall inside a church, Ischia Ponte
Who needs a Rolls, when you can use an old Vespa tricyle?
In Ischia, the newlyweds go on a passegiatta in their car all over the main streets, and passersby wish them well. The whole wedding party follows them in other vehicles, in procession.
Lacco Ameno, Ischia, where Peregrinus anchored for a day or two. iPhone 6 Plus. 10 September 2016.
In Ischia
You who pass
And turn your gaze to this Temple
dedicated to the Holy Ghost
Know
That it was built with little means
And was completed
With the hard work
Of the people of the sea
In the year of the Lord 1674
——— Plaque on a church in Ischia Ponte
From neat Sant'Angelo, to run-down Ischia Ponte, to upper-market Lacco Ameno, Ischia covers all bases, and offers good anchorages in all three. A cross-roads of history, it seems every Mediterranean culture has left a bit of its imprint on this remarkable island; not coincidentally, what is probably the oldest surviving writing in the Greek alphabet was found here.
A place to go back to, someday.
The Aragonese Castle at Ischia, with Peregrinus visible at anchor in the artificial bay created by the causeway built by King Alfonso V of Aragon, Naples, Sicily and diverse others, and uncle of King Ferdinand the Catholic, he who sent Columbus looking for the Indies. 9 September 2016, iPhone 6 Plus.
Into a Roman port
Octavian's best friend, general and all-around master builder, Agrippa, built the port at Pandateria, now called Ventotene. The port still stands, repaired, but unaltered from the way Agrippa built it.
Motoring into this harbor was the highlight our visit to the Pontine islands, and meandering around the city above, looking for mementos and gossip of his wife, known libertine, Ventotene exile, and daughter of the Emperor, Julia the Elder, was pure fun.
Original breakwater and quays by Agrippa, circa 25 BC. Among many other feats of engineering, his men built an earlier temple at the Pantheon, and this is why that church in Rome still reads, even today, in large letters: "M•Agrippa•L•F•Cos•Tertium•Fecit," or, Marco Agrippa, son of Lucius, built this during his third Consulship. 7 September 2016, iPhone 6 Plus.
The shopping in Ponza
The Admiral loves the these FitFlop shoes she bought in Ponza, the old Roman island of Pontia. It is said the Greeks may have had a colony, long before the Etruscans and then the Romans arrived; it is said this is Circe's island, where Ulysses spent a year drinking and feasting. The owners of the shoe store said Caroline Grimaldi, of Monaco, is an annual visitor and customer of theirs.
Ponza is a low-key place we liked, a place where myth can be difficult to discern from reality. A place where one might very well spend a carefree year.
Ponza, 6 September 2016. iPhone 6 Plus.