Saturday August 23rd 2008 – Florence

Actually Florence is our favourite city in the whole world.  Or it is today.  We have never actually managed to get into the Uffizzi – but thanks to an internet advance booking we have reserve tickets.  For me all the exhibits were forgettable, compared with the view from the gallery towards the river and the Ponte Vecchio beyond.  The Umbrian colours make this the most mellow of cities.  Thank you for this chance to see it again.

Thursday August 21st 2008 – Messina, Sicily

Having worked proudly with the Coastguard in the UK, I’ve become something of a Coastguard anorak!  Here in Messina the Straits of Messina, between Sicily and  Italy, are inevitably patrolled by a fleet of (inevitably!) smart Coastguard vessels.  From the deck of the ship, parked alongside the not-terribly-inspiring port of Messina, we can see beyond the harbour and right across the narrow Straits to the mainland, or rather the ‘toe’, of Italy.

As we leave Messina, we head north up the coast of Italy we pass the extraordinary sight of Stromboli, a volcanic island roughly in line with Naples.  The most extraordinary aspect of the island for us was the small settlement and extensive marina, right alongside the dark brown slick of a huge lava flow from the summit down to the sea.

The ship kept on going past the island … thankfully.  Ahead of us is our special day, the 40th anniversary of our wedding, which we spend in Rome.