Trapani , Sicily

Because of widespread bad weather, we knew that a landing in Tunisia was probably not going to be possible. Eventually Skulk gave a Briefing and told us that the Sicilian port of Trapani would replace the Tunisian port.

The were just two excursions on offer at Trapani, the village of Erica , which we had seen on our holiday round Sicily, or a walk round Trapani., We decided on staying to see Trapani

Chris attempted to paint a bear on Yvonne´s art class before a talk on the Origin of the Alphabet by the guest lecturer, David Price-Jones. After the Venetian Society reception we had dinner with the future cruise manager, Joshua. Also a different Cathy and Mike and Geoffrey and Annette. David is none to impressed by the said Joshua - smarmy, but there again, that is probably what future cruise managers always have to be.

The old city of Trapani dates from the later medieval or early modern periods; there are no more remains of the ancient city and many of the city's historic buildings are designed in the Baroque style.

Picking up and putting down the Pilot in choppy water is always a bit of adventure for the poor chap.

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May 19th.

Trapani, Sicily We were docked here by 8 am. We went ashore on the town exploration walk with two of the Expedition team, Gert and Yvonne. We first walked to the Torre Ligny, a 1840s fortification, now a museum, with many models of boats, including the Bounty. There were great views from its roof. Then we went past the old fish market before re entering the central part of the town and entering the cathedral. Initially there was hardly a soul around but now the place became alive. We had a drink and a monster cannoli at a restaurant before wandering around by ourselves. After lunch we went out again for a long walk before coming back and enjoying a smoothie on the back deck.

Cannoli are Sicilian pastries consisting of tube-shaped shells of fried pastry dough, filled with a sweet, creamy filling containing ricotta—a staple of Sicilian cuisine. They range in size from 9 to 20 centimetres.

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Ate by ourselves in the restaurant, and another cannoli, this time smaller :-(

on to Annaba, Algeria

Silver Cloud from Jeddah to Dublin