Parallel parking in downtown Trapani

The ship we are on, Oceania’s Nautica is one of 8 identical vessels built about 25 years ago, known as the R Class ships. We have sailed on 3 of them now and they are a very nice design, small enough at 30,000 tons to get into out of the way ports but big enough to handle full on ocean conditions.

This morning we did a beautiful sunrise docking at Trapani at the western tip of Sicily. A small city with a small port but we are able to squeeze in, pivot 180 degrees and then dock literally across the street from the central piazza & cathedral area.

The highlight of the region is the mountaintop village of Erice so we had another day of seemingly always walking uphill😂😂😂

We have been joking the national animal of Italy should be the Mountain Goat!

The hotter weather we expected has returned, hitting about 31 today and despite a nice cool breeze at the mountain top, we hit a Bingo Beer moment and were forced to make a Safety Stop for an “electrolyte top up” before returning to our ship✅

But the climbs were worth it and the views were spectacular and Nancy, who isn’t a heights person, managed the gondola ride up and down with barely a whimper!

Onwards to Malta . . .Read more