Thursday, June 25, 2026
Kenna and I woke up extra early today so that we could have our bags packed and placed outside our cabin door by 7 am. We beat that schedule by a few minutes, which gave us time to take a final stroll around the Sea Cloud II and get some coffee. Breakfast at 7 was with Dave and Jan, discussing future travel plans.
The expedition leaders noticed that there were quite a few people with outgoing flights around 1 pm, so they arranged a bus tour to the Rotunda of Mosta and then onward to Malta Airport, timed to arrive at 11 am. Right on schedule at 8:10, we were called to disembark, say good-bye and thank you to our tour leaders, identify our luggage, and board the bus for Mosta.
Mosta is a smaller city near the center of the island of Malta. The Rotunda is a parish church that is noted for being the third-largest free-standing stone dome in the world. It is also notable for having been bombed in World War II. A large bomb came through the Rotunda dome during a religious service but did not explode. The rotunda interior is beautiful, having been painted in a calming Wedgewood-ish shade of blue, with many paintings around the circumference. The ceiling (dome itself) was beautifully restored and decorated with a tiled pattern. We also visited an adjacent World War II shelter in front of the church, another reminder of the many attacks Malta weathered during that period.
We arrived at the airport exactly as planned, retrieved luggage from the bus, and checked in. The premium lounge at Malta airport was very pleasant, although a bit crowded, and had a number of Maltese foods to try before we left.
Our flight to Frankfurt was routine, and we saw a number of our fellow cruise passengers on the plane. We had just enough time to pass through the queue at immigration and on to our flight home to San Francisco.
This article is the final installment in a series about our recent trip to Malta and Sicily. To see the introductory article in the series, click here.
Wednesday, June 24, 2026
The last full day of our cruise was spent not actually cruising, but docked at Valletta. Due to an enormous (over 6000 passenger) cruise ship, the Sea Cloud II was forced to dock some distance from the cruise passenger terminal, which meant that we had to take shuttle buses to get to the ship.
Our morning excursion was to the village of Mdina, a former capital of Malta. Mdina is located on a prominent hill in the central part of Malta. It is a picturesque town with narrow streets and lots of tourists. Malta’s main cathedral is located there. A local guide took us through parts of the small town before giving us some free time to explore, much of which we spent with Dave and Jan at a cafe recommended by the guide with a wonderful view of the island and excellent cold drinks and chocolate cake.
After returning to the Sea Cloud II for lunch, we ventured out again with a guide to the St. John’s Co-Cathedral that we had visited on our own earlier in the trip. The commentary from the guide was helpful in understanding the many chapels that are a part of the structure.
This evening we had a slide show of pictures contributed by people on the tour, curated by Anna, the photo expert on our cruise. This was followed by a final buffet dinner, with many good-byes to fellow travelers and the staff.
This article is part of a series about our recent trip to Malta and Sicily. To see the introductory article in the series, click here.
Tuesday, June 23, 2026
After an overnight cruise from Sicily, we arrived at the second-largest island of Malta, Gozo. Unlike most of our earlier port calls, we anchored offshore and used tenders (lifeboats) to reach Mgarr, the primary port city. After arriving at the port, we boarded buses to travel to the Gjantija Temples, which date to about 3600 BC, and a small museum near the town of Xaghra in the center of the island.
We then continued to the north end of the island where there were many salt pans for evaporating sea water. While we have seen the salt evaporators along the shore of San Francisco Bay, these were much smaller evaporators operated by families in the region. We listened to a short talk on the salt harvesting process, and were given burlap sample bags of Gozo salt.
For lunch, we had another tradition, a Pasta Wheel lunch. Cooked pasta was swirled in the center of a large wheel of parmesan cheese, resulting in a very creamy and rich taste. In the afternoon, Sea Cloud II again set its sails for our final voyage back to Valletta.
Our farewell cocktails and dinner were served this evening in case some passengers want to spend more time off-ship on our final evening in Valletta. Kenna and Dave received certificates attesting to their climbing one of the ship’s riggings.
This article is part of a series about our recent trip to Malta and Sicily. To see the introductory article in the series, click here.
Monday, June 22, 2026
Today we explore the last Sicilian city of our tour: Siracusa (Syracuse). After breakfast, we boarded buses to go to the Archaeological Park, which includes some large ancient caves where prisoners toiled and were imprisoned. The park also includes both a Greek theatre and a Roman amphitheatre. We learned two significant differences between theatres and amphithitheatres: (1) theatres are generally not fully circular, but typically half-circles facing a central stage, while amphitheatres are generally circular. (2) theatres generally present plays and similar artistic events, while amphitheatres were often used for violent spectacles. We noted that Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View hasn’t been the site of anyone being thrown to the lions that we are aware of.
After our tour, we returned to the Sea Cloud II and had a few options. There was a walk to the market with Paolo, the cultural specialist on our cruise, but we were very warm from the previous tour and decided instead to go to a cooking demonstration of Pasta alla Puttanesca on the ship. It looked simple, but a good chef always make it look that way.
After lunch (the puttanesca was delicious), we took a walk with a local guide to Ortygia Duomo. This was yet another notable cathedral, in this case incorporating ancient Greek columns into parts of the building interior. Kenna and I then broke off and did our own exploration of Ortygia, an island connected by a couple of short bridges to Syracuse.
Syracuse is justifiably proud of its famous native son, Archimedes. A prominent statue of Archimedes stands near the bridge to Ortygia, and streets are named after him as well.
This article is part of a series about our recent trip to Malta and Sicily. To see the introductory article in the series, click here.
Sunday, June 21, 2026
This morning the Sea Cloud II passed through the Strait of Messina separating Sicily with the Italy mainland. We disembarked nearby at Messina, and took a one-hour bus ride to the town of Taormina.
Like Erice, Taormina is another city situated well above the coast for defensive reasons. We were given a guided tour of the town, culminating in a large and well-preserved Greek theatre that had since repurposed by the Romans. Behind the stage was a wonderful view of Mount Etna. We were given an hour or so to explore the theatre and walk back through town (shopping) to our bus.
The bus next took us to Castello degli Schiavi, an estate that was the site for some of the filming of The Godfather and its sequels. We were met with appetizers, then visited the main house and viewed an excerpt showing the estate in the movie. This was followed by an elaborate lunch, accompanied by a trio of musicians who walked among the tables playing appropriate music (a little too loudly, in my personal opinion). The lunch consisted of several courses and was delicious.
Following lunch, we had an opportunity to see more of the house and many period furnishings that were located inside, and many of us had pictures taken on the balcony featured in The Godfather.
The bus then brought us to the port of Giardini Naxos where we were transferred to the Sea Cloud II via tenders (actually, the ship’s lifeboats). Upon our return, we had the usual cocktail hour, recap of the day and plan for tomorrow, and a smaller dinner than usual on account of the size of our lunch.
This article is part of a series about our recent trip to Malta and Sicily. To see the introductory article in the series, click here.
Saturday, June 20, 2026
Today is our second day at sea as we travel along the north coast of Sicily. Kenna and I took advantage of the morning light exercise and stretching that was offered. After breakfast, guests that had pre-qualified for physical readiness (primarily stair climbing and balance) were given an opportunity to climb the ship’s riggings to the first level of one of the masts. Kenna and Dave participated in this, while Jan and I photographed. Each climber was fitted with a safety harness and assisted by a crew member as they ascended and descended. There were additional crew members at the top, assisting with transferring the climber to the platform, ensuring a safe climb.
After a short wait, Kenna and Dave climbed in quick succession and had a couple minutes each to admire and photograph the view before descending to make room for the next climber.
Later, the crew offered tours of the ship’s engine room for those that were interested (Dave and I were, of course). The tour consisted of a quick walk through the engine room itself (it was quite warm), and a briefing with pictures in the control room showing various other engineering systems on the ship.
With very calm seas, we also had an opportunity in the afternoon to go swimming in the Mediterranean. The crew set up a platform from which we could climb down (or jump) a short distance into the water. We were surrounded by a roped-off area in which we were allowed to swim, and pool “noodles” were available for those who wanted to use them. I took advantage of the opportunity to swim, and it was refreshing on a very warm day. The Mediterranean looks just as blue from the water as above! We were told that the water was 2 km deep; I don’t think I ever swam in such deep water although it doesn’t matter much if you can’t touch bottom anyway.
For dinner, the restaurant staff demonstrated filleting a whole tuna they had obtained. Dinner of course featured tuna tartare, grilled tuna, and sashimi.
The ship ended the day near the island of Stromboli, an actively erupting volcano. As the sun set, many of us took pictures as an active vent periodically spewed fire and ashes.
One of the traditions on the Sea Cloud II is an evening where the crew sings sea shanties and guests are invited to sing along. It seemed a little corny at first, but quickly we were enjoying singing along to songs like, “What Do You Do with a Drunken Sailor?”
This article is part of a series about our recent trip to Malta and Sicily. To see the introductory article in the series, click here.
Friday, June 19, 2026
Overnight, the Sea Cloud II took us to the northwestern Sicily city of Erice. Erice is a historic triangular-shaped city situated high on a hill, with commanding views of the surrounding countryside.
The main church (duomo) was notable for its intricately carved ceiling, and was generally lighter in color and brighter than many churches in the area. Our local guide also described the convents, whose nuns had no contact with the outside world other than to observe through barred windows. Our guide also recommended we visit Pasticceria Maria Grammatico, a notable pastry shop that was started by a nun who used recipes from the local convent. Kenna and I bought a couple of genoise pastries to enjoy later.
Following Erice, we took our bus to Marsala. We stopped first at the archeological museum there, which displayed very well-preserved ships and pottery from the Punic and Roman eras. We then continued to a local winery, Cantine Florio, for a tour of the wine cellar and lunch featuring delicious Sicilian small bites. Marsala is a sweet, fortified wine so we had other wine to accompany lunch and Marsala wine with dessert.
Following lunch, we took a short walking tour of the town of Marsala and then returned to the Sea Cloud II for cocktails, our daily recap, and dinner.
This article is part of a series about our recent trip to Malta and Sicily. To see the introductory article in the series, click here.
Thursday, June 18, 2026
This morning we docked at Port Empedocle in southern Sicily for a short bus ride to the Valley of the Temples in nearby Agrigento. “Valley of the Temples” is really a misnomer; the temples were built on a ridge looking down on the surrounding landscape.
We walked a mile or so, visiting various ancient temples. The temples were of Greek architecture, although repurposed by later civilizations, including Romans and, later, Christians.
During the walk, we stopped for a refreshment break. It is here that I discovered “granita limone”, basically a very lemony Icee. It was delicious, to the extent that I had to deal with significant “brain freeze” as I was eating it. Nevertheless, I expect to have numerous lemon granitas during our days in Sicily.
Following the tour of the Valley of the Temples, we made a short stop at a nearby museum. There we were able to see various artifacts from the temples that had been moved inside for protection. Most significant was a very large statue (telamon) that was originally part of the Temple of Zeus, a replica of which had been installed outside.
We returned to the Sea Cloud II for lunch. The afternoon was spent on the ship, with cultural and historical lectures and other leisure time, followed by the usual cocktails and dinner.
This article is part of a series about our recent trip to Malta and Sicily. To see the introductory article in the series, click here.
Wednesday, June 17, 2026
Our first full day aboard the Sea Cloud II is an “At Sea” day as we sail from Malta to southwestern Sicily. It was also the first opportunity to deploy the sails and actually sail without benefit of the ship’s engines.
We began with a detailed description of the sail deployment process from the ship’s First Officer. With three masts and 23 sails, a great deal of crew action is required to climb the masts to unfurl the sails and then to operate the many ropes involved in furling and securing the sails. The well-trained and experienced crew performed this operation expertly.
In order to have favorable winds for the sails, we took an indirect route to our next stop, Port Empedolce. We spent much of the day admiring the ship with its sails, and were given an opportunity to board Zodiac boats to take pictures from a short distance.
Later in the day, the crew furled the sails, and we had another opportunity to admire their skill and the choreography that goes into operating a ship like this.
This article is part of a series about our recent trip to Malta and Sicily. To see the introductory article in the series, click here.
Tuesday, June 16, 2026
Today is the last day of our pre-trip, and in the afternoon we will board the Sea Cloud II.
We boarded a small bus, traveling to the south side of Malta’s main island. We were scheduled to take a boat into the Blue Grotto there, but weather conditions didn’t permit that, so we instead stopped to take pictures from the shore. We then traveled on to an archaeological site near the coast. There we visited two megalithic temple complexes, Ħaġar Qim and Mnajdra. The temples are said to be among the oldest examples (~3600 BCE) in the world. The stones from which the temples were constructed are enormous, revealing considerable sophistication in their construction. Various artifacts found in the area also give insight into the lives of people at that time.
From there, we drove to the fishing village of Marsaxlokk, where we had a delicious lunch at Harbour by Johann. I had pre-ordered the red snapper, and what I got was a whole red snapper (apparently traditional) to eat, expertly barbecued. Kenna had several large prawns in a tomato sauce.
On the way back to Valletta, we stopped at Għar Dalam, an underground excavation. In a cave, they have been able to uncover successive layers of archeological history, ranging from pottery to multiple layers of animal habitation such as dwarf elephants, species of hippopotamus, and other long-extinct animals.
We then returned to Valletta to board the Sea Cloud II. After passing through the usual security formalities, we were welcomed aboard by the ship’s officers and quickly found our cabin for the trip. The Sea Cloud II is a gorgeous yet modern tall ship, built to follow the style of the Sea Cloud that was owned by Merriwether Post in the 1930s. It does an excellent job of merging that style with modern amenities like WiFi, air conditioning, and an automatic espresso machine.
Soon after, Dave and Jan knocked on the door of our cabin, and we toured each other’s cabins. We had the usual safety and lifeboat briefings, followed by a cocktail reception and buffet dinner as we sailed out of Valletta harbor as the sun set. We will have a very comfortable home for the rest of our tour.
This article is part of a series about our recent trip to Malta and Sicily. To see the introductory article in the series, click here.