Sardegna -- and sailing onto a mooring

Islands off Costa Smeralda

Memories of our brief stay in Sardinia are a blur.  We were there for such a short time before seeing a perfect weather window and making a run for Spain.  I will comment about that in another posting.  This posting is about our observances while in Sardinia, or Sardegna as the Italians call this island.  

Before coming to Sardinia all we knew about it is that it is the second largest island in the Mediterranean, the largest being Sicily.  Sicily has an area of 9,927 square miles and Sardinia has an area of 9,300 square miles or 9,197 square miles depending on which source one cites.  Either way, Sardinia comes in a close second to Sicily regarding land size.  I find it impossible to tell the difference on our charts.  Both islands appear to be about the same size to me.

A house on the Costa Smeralda covered in
purple bougainvillea 

We have no tourist guide for Sardinia; came totally unprepared except for our sailing guidebook and charts.  Plus what we had read on blogs of fellow cruisers who have visited Sardinia over the past few years.  The only thing I remembered from those blogs is that some fairly famous artists hail from this island, plus some poets.  And that some guy who makes violins or guitars also resides on Sardinia.  None of that was of any interest whatsoever to us.

What in the world?
Being towed behind a boat.

Why were we here?  Because geographically it is the logical place to stop when headed westward from Italy.  According to our sailing guidebook, Sardinia lies 112 miles from the Italian mainland; 7 miles south of the French island of Corsica; and approximately 120 miles north from Africa.  We were headed to Barcelona, Spain; so over the northern tip of Sardinia was the most logical route.



As an example of how little we knew about this island, we assumed that the inhabitants were called Sardinians.  Nope; they are called Sards.  And like the Sicilians they feel a more special affinity for their island than they do for the country of Italy.  They are Sards first, and Italians second.  Also like the Sicilians, their language is different from that on mainland Italy.  The Sards differ from the Italians in other ways too.  They are less exuberant, more reserved.

Many rocky islets off Costa Smeralda

Much of this large island is bare rock, with a mountain range running north-south on the eastern half.  There is little agriculture and it can be very hot and dusty. About the only crop cultivated here are the cork oak trees.  This island has been inhabited by some of the same cultures that ruled much of the Med long ago; first the Phoenicians, then the Romans.  But before the Phoenicians this island was inhabited during the Neolithic period by the Nuraghese, a people totally unfamiliar to us.  The most significant remaining structures from this period are the nuraghs found all over the island.  There were some 30,000 of these structures.  Let that sink in for a moment.  30,000 of these stone structures built on this island between 1900 and 730 B.C. Today there still remain evidence of some 7,000 of these structures.  Each was constructed of truncated stone blocks built without mortar.  These served part as dwelling places and part as fortresses.  And these are found only on Sardinia.  The largest nuraghs have 3 central floors and a complex of towers, fosses and galleries.  Most are found inland on elevations from 500 to 1,000 feet.  We motored past several but never close enough to get good photos.  These 2 links provide more information and photos:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuraghe

Google Images of Nuragh

After the Romans came the Vandals, Byzantines, Saracens and Arabs.  The indigineous Sards retreated from the shores to the mountains each time.  A small note is that the Romans never conquered the Sards because they retreated to those mountains.  Romans called the area Barbaria because of these wild inhabitants.  Then during the Middle Ages the Genoese and Pisans from nearby Genoa and Pisa arrived and the ravaging of Sardinia ceased under their rule.  Later the Aragonese and Spanish arrived and life finally became more ordered for the Sards.

Much later, Admiral Nelson attempted to persuade the British government to annex Sardinia; but that never came to fruition.  Nelson felt that Sardinia with its numerous protected anchorages was a much better place to protect the British fleet than Malta which had only Valetta to serve as protection for the fleet.

In 1948 Sardinia was granted political autonomy.  The multi-billionaire Aga Khan began developing the Costa Smeralda in the 1960s and other international development companies followed his lead.  We motored up the Costa Smeralda one day and Bill noted that there were more super yachts there than we have seen anywhere in the world.  One anchorage alone held 13 super yachts.  Oh...all that money.

After remaining at anchor in the large bay called Porto della Taverna for a few nights we motored 17 miles to Porto di Cugnana.  Had to...we needed to find a grocery store.  After 2 weeks of being at anchor and 1 overnight passage we were totally out of fresh produce and down to our last loaf of bread.  We anchored outside the Marina di Portisco and took the dinghy in to find a supermarket.  We also gifted that huge teardrop fender that we had found halfway between the islands of Ponza and Sardinia to this marina.  We certainly had no use for that huge thing and it probably cost about 500 euro.  The marina staff were pleased to receive the gift.  I figure they can use it near their fuel dock or on the dock where the super yachts dock.

The following day we motored up the Costa Smeralda and past the La Maddalena islands.  Yeah; I know those islands are beautiful but they held no special interest for us.  Just another over-crowded place and we were getting tired of crowded mooring fields.  Plus, I did not want to pay for the special permit to go to these islands plus the 3.50 euro per meter per day for the privilege of a mooring; no anchoring allowed.  We continued onward.

Hey look!  There is the French island of Corsica just off to our right.  Birthplace of Napolean Bonaparte.  How many realize he was Italian rather than French since the island where he was born belonged to the Italians at the time.  We would miss beautiful Bonifacio and skip Corsica; we were headed to Barcelona because the weather was right for a change.  If we departed Sardinia at 0800 the next morning then we could arrive in Barcelona between 2 weather systems.  Another strong system was going to come down through the Gulf of Lions starting a few hours after we would arrive in Barcelona.  The time to get across that dreaded stretch of water was now.

Had to sail onto a mooring buoy in that tiny cove
where those 2 masts are located in middle

Our final overnight stop in Sardinia was at the Isola Asinara National Park and Marine Reserve at the Cala D'Oliva mooring field.  No motors or engines are allowed near Asinara.  One must sail only.  When was the last time you sailed up to a mooring buoy?  We used to practice doing this on our previous boat in the British Virgin Islands during off-season when there were no charter boats crowding the bays.  We were pretty good at dropping the mainsail and coasting right up to the mooring pennant.  But we had never done this on BeBe.  And a ketch with a skeg-hung rudder handles very differently from a sloop with a huge spade rudder.

Decided not to chance picking up this mooring under
sail because too close to rocky shore.

We executed this perfectly!  Not to sound like bragging, but we did do it perfectly.  Wind was from the WNW at 12 knots as we approached the bay.  We had no idea where the moorings were located; neither the sailing guidebook nor the park website illustrated the location of the mooring buoys in this bay, just stated that there were 8 mooring buoys in this bay and boats must navigate under sails only.  We entered the bay on the northern side and got as close to shore as possible looking for these buoys.  Finally spotted them in a small cove in the center of the larger bay and headed to a point just north of the cove.  I was at the helm while Bill was on the bow with a pole to pick up the mooring pennant.  

Photo taken from our moored boat.  Looking
back at the direction from which we sailed
into this small cove.

As we sailed south almost even with the buoys, I furled the genoa.  (Love having electric furling at the helm!  Faster and easier than manual furling.)  The boat immediately slowed from 5 knots to just over 3 knots SOG.  I turned to starboard and aligned BeBe with the desired buoy.  This further slowed the boat speed.  If we missed the first 1 then there was another buoy ahead of it, so all would not be lost if we missed the first 1 or if it had a broken pennant.  About 3 boat lengths from the buoy I yelled at Elisabeth to spill the main.  She did.  And the boat coasted up to the first buoy.  Bill quickly picked up the pennant and secured it to a cleat as I told Elisabeth to hurry and completely spill the main this time.  This brought the boat to a stop right at the buoy.  No need to slowly drift up to the next buoy.

As I furled the mainsail and Bill tidied the lines on the bow, people on a boat on another mooring began to applaude.  Why...thank you!  Guess we do remember how to sail after all.  Only thing we did wrong was to not fully explain to Elisabeth what we hoped to do.  She had never handled the main sheet before this experience.  And she had never heard the term 'spill the main' yet she handled it perfectly.  She might not be familiar with the term but she understood the concept of letting the mainsail move freely out to the side to empty the wind from the sail in order to slow down the boat.

Motoring away from the small cove on Asinara island
in zero wind.

An hour or so later the park attendent came and collected the mooring fee ($54 for our sized boat for 1 night) and handed us a park brochure.  Elisabeth was looking at it while I cooked dinner and she noted that for this zone boats are allowed to turn on engines for alignment to a mooring buoy only.  Under no circumstances can an engine be used other than briefly for alignment to a mooring.  Why was this not stated on the park website or in the sailing guidebook!!  That little tidbit of information might encourage more sailors to stop at this island park.  I am sure that the idea of sailing onto and off of a mooring buoy intimitates some sailors and that keeps them from stopping here.  And it is the perfect jumping off point for passage either to Barcelona or to the Balearic islands.  

Fishing boats were all around Asinara island in the
morning, even though it is a restricted area and
no fishing is allowed.  Bill said they were grandfathered.
Their grandfathers fished there so they are going to
fish there too.  Ignoring that the area is now a park.

At 0800 the following morning we raised the mainsail while on the mooring buoy.  Wind speed was 0.0 knots.  We let the boat drift for a couple of minutes so we could say we tried to abide by the park rules and sail off the mooring.  Then I started the engine and we motored out of there.  No one came to fuss at us that early in the morning.  Bye-bye to Sardinia and Italy.

Islands of Procida, Ischia, Ponza & over to Sardinia

 After returning from our little train trip to Rome we had hoped to depart Salerno the next morning.  But winds were much too high, allowing us another day in the marina in Salerno.  Winds were down to less than 20 kts the following morning so we headed off down the beautiful world-known Amalfi coast.  This truly is a beautiful coastline and also an area more fitting for motorboats than for sailing.  The high mountains create strong gusts from changing directions as one rounds the coastline projections, thus making sailing challenging if not impossible.  Going from 22 kts on the beam to 3 kts 24-degrees off starboard as we rounded each point got old very quickly.  And our sails are easily and quickly controlled electrically which makes dealing with that infinitely easier than on a traditionally rigged sailboat.  I honestly cannot imagine sailing that coastline in our previous boat with the traditional sails and no electric winches or furling.  No thanks!

Europeans love their tiny dinghies!

As we rounded the tip of the Amalfi coast there sat the equally world-known Isle of Capri. Anchoring is not allowed there, at least not for us foreign flagged boats, and the marina is outside our budget during this high-season of summer; so we continued onward.  Due to multiple computer problems it appears that all photos of the Amalfi coastline and the Isle of Capri have been lost.  At least for now, anyway.  As well as the photos of Mt. Vesuvius that I took after we passed Isola di Capri.  It was interesting to see Mt. Vesuvius from this western angle from the sea than what we saw from the train or Pompeii.

Typical Saturday crowded anchorage

Finding an acceptable anchorage for our next stop proved somewhat challenging.  We were going to the Flegree Islands in the Golfo di Napoli, comprised of Isola di Ischia and Isoli di Procida.  According to our sailing guidebook, all of the areas where we would have liked to anchor were off-limits to foreign flagged boats.  Everything was Zone B or Zone B(NT) as marine sanctuaries (marine parks) or even more restrictive zoning in parts of those areas.  These zones are strange in Italy. Zone B in one area can have different restrictions than a Zone B in another area, which makes it difficult to keep track of what is allowed where.   This particular area is regulated by the AMP Regno do Nettuno (Neptune's Kingdom Marine Reserve).  Only residents of Italy are allowed to anchor in areas zoned B in this marine reserve.  Yeah...okay...so where are we foreigners supposed to go?

Nope--those boats are not rafted up.  They are
'anchored' in the usual Italian way -- way overcrowded!

I had emailed the AMP requesting permission to navigate these waters, as per instructions in our sailing guidebook.  I also requested permission to anchor...just to see what the response might be.  You never know; maybe someone would say okay.  Nope; after 3 days I received a response stating that only Italian residents (Italian flagged boats) are allowed to anchor at these islands.  I then inquired if we could be allowed to take a mooring in Cala di Corricella on Isola di Procida.  The response was that we should take a mooring and then proceed to a dock at Corricella to pay for the mooring.  We decided to try for that.  Upon arrival, however, we found that there are no moorings in this bay.  What the heck!  It is okay to take a mooring but not to anchor but there are no moorings.  Does the right hand know what the left hand is doing!!!

Captain of the big boat did know how to anchor.  The
others did not.  Owner was screaming at 2 boats that
were tangled up and dragging down on him.

We anchored anyway, knowing that authorities could come along and chase us away or charge a fine.  Whatever.  We would move on and sail overnight to another location if forced to do so.  The only other option would be to go to a marina near Naples and we wanted to avoid that. That would be going in the wrong direction.  Due to high winds we ended up staying at Cala di Corricella for 2 nights...on a weekend...with all the weekend crowds.  The Italian Coast Guard boat visited the anchorage 4 times and passed our anchored boat each time without stopping.  Made me wonder if the Coast Guard is charged with safety and the AMP charged with enforcing the marine reserve rules.  We never saw an AMP boat.

This little boat wanted to anchor that close to us.  After
seeing my face they moved farther away.

And...Oh.My.God!...does Procida ever get crowded on weekends!!!  We had heard the tales from other cruising friends who are ahead of  us about how crowded the Italian anchorages can get during summer months, so we were expecting it to be crowded.  It was laughable!  Most of the boats were quite small.  Almost all came over from Naples for the day, leaving around 18:00.  The first night the anchorage was very rolly with swell rolling in.  It was like being at sea as the boat rolled all night long.  This once again re-affirmed my decision to never own a boat with a center-line bed.  The only way I can sleep in excessively rolly anchorages is with my back placed against the hull and a large pillow in front to force my body to remain still.  Something that is not possible in a center-line bed.  I know those are all the rage in boats today but I would never own such a boat.

Boats dragged all day long both days that we were are Corricella.  These people either do not know how to anchor or they simply do not care if they drag.  Many of the boats would motor into the anchorage, flip their fenders over each side, and then drop the anchor...with just enough chain for the anchor to reach the bottom--no scope at all.  Then they would drag back against another boat; partially lift their anchor; motor forward again; drop the anchor once again (again with no scope); and repeat this process.  We watched one boat drag and repeat this process 5 times!  Hey...wouldn't it be more enjoyable to just put out some more chain and stick in one place without having to worry about hitting another boat as you dragged through the anchorage?  What a novel idea.  Did not seem to bother any of them, though.

Argonese castle at Ischia
as viewed from southeast

Argonese castle as viewed
from northeast

After 2 days of this we left and motored past Isola di Ischia en route to Isola Ponza.  We had wanted to visit Ischia and check out the old Argonese castle on the tiny islet joined to Ischia by a causeway, but we could find no allowable anchorage in the guidebook.  Same restriction as at Procida, anchoring not allowed by non-Italian flagged boats.  That had not been a problem at Procida but we were tired of these restrictions and worrying about getting fined or chased away, so we just moved on the 50 miles or so out to the island of Ponza.

Cala di Inferno on Isola Ponza

Ponza turned out to be our favorite place (anchorage-wise) in all of Italy thus far.  The island is beautiful.  It reminded both of us very much of some places in Venezuela, like Mochima and some of the islands -- places that are gorgeous and no longer safe to visit.  Ponza was so nice that we stayed longer than planned.

Cala di Inferno on Isola Ponza

The water delivery ship arrived and we had to move to a different spot in the Cala di Inferno anchorage.  We never really figured out that water delivery ship.  It would dock stern-to against a limestone cliff which had steps carved up to a very nice home on top.  And there were doorways cut out of the limestone down near the sea level.  Where were they off-loading and storing all that water which was delivered daily while we were anchored there?

Cala di Inferno on Isola Ponza.  Water ship docked at lower right area.  Steps carved all the way up.
What a view must be from that home on top.

78-meter super yacht Ilona
Note the helicopter on top rear.

Red Sails in the sunset

93-meter super sailing yacht Eos

93-meter Eos on left
78-meter Ilona on right
at Ponza -- a popular place for super yachts

On our final day anchored at Ponza an acquaintance arrived whom we had last seen in 2011 when our boats were transported aboard the cargo ship BBC Everest from Male, Maldives, to Marmaris, Turkey.  He had worked as crew on one of the yachts transported, and now he crewed on a luxury yacht that visited Ponza.  Wish I could say more about this yacht but I will respect privacy of the very wealthy and very well-known celebrity owner and leave it at that.  It was nice having the opportunity to once again say hello to this crew member.  Nice guy.

Totally flat calm sea

Early the following morning we departed for the overnight motor-sail to Sardinia.  After watching the weather for weeks and seeing how nasty it can get in that area of the Med when the wind kicks up, we felt just fine with motoring in no wind at all over a flat calm sea.  Listening the drone of the engine is not enjoyable for us any more than it is for any sailors, but that is preferable to bashing into 25 to 35-kt wind directly on the nose with seas breaking over the bow.  

Our gift from the sea -- one HUGE fender!

About half-way across we noticed a large white ball off the port.  We deviated course a little to check it out because it looked so large and so strange on that flat sea.  Turned out to be a very large fender.  A perfectly fine huge teardrop fender with a tiny broken line attached.  Bill and Elisabeth managed to retrieve it from the sea.  It was so heavy that Bill could not have picked it up from the sea without Elisabeth's help.  We have no idea what we will do with this huge fender; hopefully find someone who can use it -- soon, since it takes up a lot of space on our deck.  It is W-A-Y too large for our boat.

Tuna fighting at surface.

Shortly after picking up the huge fender, the fishing line played out.  Yay!  A fish!  It was a nice sized tuna, what we know as a big-eye tuna.  This one did not fight like they usually do.  It dove deep and swam right up to the stern of our boat.  And then it decided to fight.  I think Bill had a bit of fun bringing it in and Elisabeth got a kick out of it too.  It took all 3 of us to get that fish on board.  

Tuna finally giving up the fight -- mostly.

Bill ran a line through the gills and mouth and hung it on the stern arch.  We handle fish a little differently than most of the sailors we know.  This line through the gills and mouth is Bill's favorite thing to do with most fish.  And always with tuna.  Then he cuts off the tail and lets the fish bleed out while hanging out there.  This takes no more than 10 - 15 minutes and the blood drips into the sea rather than on our boat.  And tuna, in particular, does need to be bled out before cutting it up.  He does this with all fish to reduce the mess onto the boat.

Awww -- the gaff got him in the chest.
A big-eye tuna.

After it had stopped dripping blood, he carried it by the line to the table in the cockpit and cut away the large fillets.  Then tossed the carcass back into the sea.  Clean-up is easy using this method.  We would love to have a fish-cleaning table mounted on the rail; but since we do not have such a luxury, the cockpit table works just fine.  The fresh-water hose inside the small cockpit lazzarette assists in making clean-up really easy.

This tuna netted more than 10-lbs of thick fillets.  This is far more than we can eat while still fresh.  I boiled about half of it in salted water in the pressure cooker; drained; then placed into vacuum sealed bags with a generous splash of olive oil.  These went into the freezer as I do not have canning jars with rings and lids, but we do have a large freezer locker.  Those will become tuna salad for sandwiches.  Better than commercially canned tuna.  We do enjoy freshly caught tuna and big-eye is one of our favorite types of tuna, second only to yellow-fin.

Porpoises chasing our bow

Also on the passage Elisabeth enjoyed being visited by pods of porpoises.  Not just once, but 3 times!  One pod had at least 30 dolphin!  Wow!  That was the largest pod of porpoises that we have seen in the Med.  Only one pod came to play with our bow.

Porpoises playing with our bow

Dolphin rolling in our bow wake.
Moving too fast to get clear photos.

Sunset was especially pretty on this day.  With the sea so calm and the cloudless sky.  The barometric pressure was high at 1020.9 and this contributed to the lack of clouds and the clear sky.  Conditions were perfect to see the green flash but neither Elisabeth nor I saw it as the sun dropped below the horizon.  Maybe we blinked.

Sunset on the Tyrrenhian Sea on 01 July 2015

Sunrise on Tyrrhenian Sea on 02 July 2015

Moon setting over Sardinia at sunrise on 02 July 2015

It was a full moon on the night of this passage.  This enabled Elisabeth to see something that she did not know happens -- the sun and moon both visible in the sky at the same time, both at sunset and at sunrise.  

There just is something special about this experience at sea.  

Every time.




We arrived at Sardinia shortly after sunrise on the southern side of Isola Tavolara.  This is an unusually shaped island, quite prettily shaped topography with the spiked high hill.  We motored over to the large anchorage at Porto della Taverna.  This area is part of the Isola Tavolara and Capo Coda Cavallo Marine Reserve and is zoned C.  

More shade for my DS
in the shade of the cockpit.
Calm passages are boring.
Nothing to do but play games.
When not retrieving gifts from the
sea like fenders or catching tuna.

Zone C restrictions for this marine reserve states:  "Navigation is not subject to any regulations, but mooring is restricted to authorised (sic) mooring buoys.  Diving and sport fishing with static lines and rods permitted."  Well...that sounds just fine.  Except that there are no mooring buoys in any of the first 3 anchorages that we checked, whether authorized mooring buoys or non-authorized mooring buoys.  Boats were anchored in all 3 of the first anchorages we checked, so we also anchored.

Isola Tavolara on ENE coast of Sardinia.
Viewed from our anchored boat in Porto della Taverna.

Seeing this first-hand explains some of the verbiage in the sailing guidebook that had confused me.  Often the author states for a particular bay or cove that zoning is in place and restrictions apply.  And then in the very next sentence he proceeds to state that one should anchor at such-and-such a location in such-and-such depth, etc.  I could not figure out why he tells boats to anchor if there are no-anchoring restrictions for the area.  

The answer is clear now.

Because there are no freakin' mooring buoys and boats have no other option other than to anchor when visiting this region of coast of Sardinia.  

(Until we find some marinas.)

By the way, most of us think of the Mediterranean Sea as simply one sea.  However, thus far we have crossed the Aegean Sea, the Ionian Sea, the Adriatic Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea -- all of which are in the Mediterranean Sea.  This leaves only the Alboran Sea for us to cross to complete the total width of the Med.

Train trip: Salerno to Rome

Obviously...the Colosseum.  Can you spot Elisabeth?  Flashing the peace sign.
Her deal this summer is to send peace to the world from each location visited.

The Wedding Cake.  Memorial for
Vittorio Emanuele II, the man who united Italy.

It simply made no sense to be this close to Rome and not introduce our granddaughter to this great city.  On the second day there she declared that she could live in Rome; a city to love. Train service in Italy is easy and, in my opinion, at bargain pricing.  Both the Trenitalia and the Italo train lines service this route; we opted for the Italo express trains.  Websites for both lines would not work to book or purchase tickets (possibly this was an issue because I was using Chrome as a browser rather than Internet Explorer); so we went to the train station in Salerno and purchased tickets in person.  This is a decent walk from the marina inside the commercial port.  The station is located very near the Porto Turistico Masuccio Salernitano marina but our boat is too big to dock in that marina; the maximum size boat allowed there is 15 meters and only a few at that.  Walking at a normal pace it takes about 45-50 minutes from Porto Nuovo in the commercial port to the train station.  We have gotten more exercise than desired while docked here!

Back side of Colosseum & Arch

Another Twizy!
Strange opening doors.
Saw these all over Rome.

The 06:57 express train from Salerno to Rome arrived in the newer Roma Tiburtina station at 08:53.  It traveled at 300 kph for almost the entire distance with only a single short stop in Naples central station.  For our American friends, that is 180 mph!  Much more comfortable than any airplane and goes from center of one city to the center of the destination city.  The only way to travel if you ask us.  Much more convenient than airlines.  And less expensive.  As 2 seniors and 1 child our total round-trip train fares for all 3 persons was only $143.81. Guess I was glad that the website did not work after all, because if I had purchased these same tickets online the fare would have been $42.56 each way for each person.  We saved almost $112 by going to the station and having an attendant assist us in the purchase.  She knew the tricks to finding us the cheapest fares; we would never have figured that out in Italian.

That sand in background is the Circus Maximus.
Photo taken at top of Imperial Palace.

Villa where the Vestal Virgins lived.
Palatine Hill homes in background.

Only hiccup was that we arrived at the newer Triburtini station and our return train departed the older Termini station.  This was not a problem for us because our hotel was distant from both train stations.  One was as good logistically as another from our hotel.  We took a taxi from Triburtini to the hotel and then used buses for the remainder of transportation needs.

Trajan's Column and Forum
Wearing her new jacket in the 90F heat!!

We enjoyed Rome for 2 full days.  The first day we managed to see the Colosseum and the Forums, Palatine Hill and the Imperial Palace, looking down on the Circus Maximus.  We enjoyed an over-priced mediocre lunch and then walked to the Pantheon.  Figured out a bus back to the hotel for a nap after all that walking on such a hot day.  

Entry door to Temple of Romulus and
Remus.  Lock still works and door
is on original hinges.  Amazing.

We stayed at the Hotel Sant'Angelo this time.        http://www.hotelsa.it/en/default.html 
The apartment where we had stayed last December has a 3-night minimum but this trip required only a single night in a hotel.  We were familiar with the area and knew this hotel was situated in a desirable location for the sites we wished to visit.  It was a good choice.  Our room rate included hors d'oeuvres and wine (juice and chips for Elisabeth) before dinnertime and a very nice full breakfast buffet.  We were able to book a room for 3 persons which included queen-sized bed in one room with a shower bath and a twin bed in the other bedroom with another shower bath.  For only $138, plus the mandatory city tax of $19.  I thought that was a real bargain.  There was a tabacchi down one block where one can purchase bus/metro tickets and a bus stop a short block behind the hotel.  Perfect!  By the way, Elisabeth still has the American frame of mind.  She found it hilarious that one goes to a smoke shop to purchase bus tickets.  And only to a smoke shop...as bus tickets are not sold elsewhere, except for an occasional tourist information kiosk. 

Inside Temple to Romulus and Remus.

Inside Temple to Romulus and Remus.  This
passage went somewhere beneath it.

Dinner was at a small family-owned restaurant a block or so from the hotel.  VERY reasonably priced and the pasta was superb -- not the sauce, which also was delicious, but the actual noodle itself was the best I have ever eaten.  Some Italian mama in that kitchen knows how to cook!   http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187791-d2155790-Reviews-La_Francescana-Rome_Lazio.html      Dinner with wine cost much less than the over-priced mediocre lunch near the old Roman Forums and Colosseum.  

Pope's escape wall to run to Castel Sant'Angelo.
 One pope did run on top length of this wall seeking safety.
Do not remember the name of this wall.

I had purchased Vatican museum tickets online.   If you are not doing a VIP tour (heartily recommend The Roman Guy for excellent VIP small group tours -- https://tours.theromanguy.com/?DestinationID=1 -- but if you are on a budget then definitely buy Vatican tickets online.  I purchased our tickets two days prior to our visit to the Vatican, but would recommend purchasing earlier if possible in order to be assured of getting the time that you want.  We wanted the first 'tour' of the day and luckily managed to get 3 tickets.  The absolute worst way to see the Vatican is to arrive without tickets and stand in that queue.  At 09:30 that queue was almost 2 blocks long.  By 14:00 that queue was about 6 blocks long.  Buy the tickets online (only costs 4 euro per ticket more than the standing-in-line price) and skip that queue.  Go straight to the security clearance area to the right of the entrance and then go straight in.  After clearing the metal detectors, take your printed voucher to the ticket window on the left side and exchange the voucher for actual tickets.  Then...follow the crowds.

Shall we have gold on our ceilings?

And Oh.My.God!! were there ever crowds.  When we visited last December Bill's brother, John, thought the crowds were bad.  The summer crowds are at least 10 times what we experienced in December.  I would recommend visiting Rome during winter, fall or spring and avoiding summer if at all possible.  The crowds are horrendous and it gets quite hot.  Winter is much better for both reasons.  It rained a lot in December but that was better than experiencing such crowds and such heat.

That famous pine cone in Vatican.
Pigna (Rione of Rome)

Face in the fountain
beneath the Pigna.

The Vatican museum had changed some of the displays since December, removing some and adding others.  Some rooms were open this day that had been closed last time, and vice versa.  I'm glad we had the opportunity to make this second trip.  One thing that I found striking was the difference in the displays as one walks from the ticket entrance up a winding walkway to the museum entrance level.  This day there were lots of displays of indigenous peoples in jungles and Chinese.  It reminded me of this pope's focus on the poor people and less-fortunate people in our world.

Crowded stairway leading into Sistine Chapel.

Elisabeth wanted to see the pope mobiles and we eventually found that display.  Did not see any signs but I remembered how to get down there.  

We had a very simple and light lunch in the pizzeria and then returned through the Sistine Chapel to get to St. Peter's Basilica.  The crowds bottleneck getting down to the Sistine Chapel going through the various narrow doorways and increasingly narrow stairways.  We had gone straight to the Sistine Chapel when we first arrived so we could miss the worst of the crowds and that had worked well.  Then we backtracked though the museums.  

Memorial for Pope Gregory XIII.
Very ornate.

There really is just too much to see to absorb even a tenth of it.  While in the Sistine Chapel a 20-something aged young man attempted to violate the ban on photos inside the Sistime Chapel.  All photography is forbidden inside the chapel.  The Japanese paid a pretty penny to renovate the artwork inside this chapel and they own all video rights for the next 20 years.  Absolutely no photos are allowed, even without flash, and that includes iPhone photos.  This smart-aleck held his phone down low and took photos of his face with the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the background.  And the guards (along with the surveillance video cameras) noticed that this guy was taking the photos. This young man was part of a group tour and the tour guide was standing right next to him and did nothing to stop him.  Within seconds 2 guards were with this young man and escorted him outside, forcing him to hand over his phone.  A short time later he returned to the chapel and continued on with his tour.  I assume with his phone after the offending photos had been deleted.  Seems like someone always wants to break the rules...whatever those rules might be.

Memorial for Pope Gregory XIIII
So plain.  Was this pope not popular?

After skipping through the Sistine Chapel as fast as we could maneuver through the shoulder-to-shoulder crowds, we slowly shuffled along with even more crowds to soon spill outdoors on the side of St. Peter's.  Ahhh...we could breathe again.  It was so hot with all the people crowded against one another in that building with no air-conditioning or fans.  I pointed out the papal apartment to Elisabeth.  She liked that it was the least pretentious building within view.

Memorial for Pope Gregory XVI.
The most ornate.

Surprisingly, inside St. Peter's was not all that crowded.  Outside there was a line a couple blocks long awaiting admission.  Not sure why that line moved so slowly when it really was not all that crowded inside.  It was nice to look at the beauty inside this basilica at our leisure.  This time we walked down to the papal burial area beneath St. Peter's.  No photos are allowed down there.  The required path had us exit St. Peter's at the queue to take the elevator up to the dome.  I tried to talk Elisabeth into going up there but she refused.  I would not have done the steps to the top but it would have made for a lovely scenic view of Rome if we had taken the elevator to the mid-level of the dome.  Guess I will never know that view because this will be our final trip to the Vatican.

Selfie with a dead pope.
Do not remember which one.
If the priests can do this, she can too.
Very distasteful, IMO.

We were a bit shocked at the behavior of half-dozen young priests.  They were taking selfies inside St. Peter's.  That seemed distasteful to me.  Not sure exactly what that bothered me but it just seemed seamy in some way to be grinning and taking photos of oneself in front of sarcophagi and statuary honoring deceased leaders of their church.  The worst was when they were taking selfies in front of the dead popes on display inside glass cases.  There are only a few popes on display in such a manner and this group of young priests did selfies with each one.  Elisabeth said if they could do it then she could do it too.  So, distasteful as it was, she took a selfie with one of the dead popes.  I'm sure her parents will be so proud when they see that photo.  Yeah, we are terrible grandparents for letting her do this.  How does one explain how wrong this is when a half-dozen priests are doing it?

In St. Peter's Square with St. Peter's Basilica in background.
Pope's apartment on right on the 3rd floor of the plain building.

Even though our day at the Vatican was spent in as leisurely manner as possible, we finished earlier than I thought we would.  This left us with nothing to do for 6 hours before our scheduled train back to Salerno.  It was a hot walk to the nearest bus stop for the number bus that we needed to get back to the hotel so we could retrieve the luggage.  Took us several blocks to find a tabacchi so we could buy bus tickets.  And a long wait for the right bus.  Why is it that every time we wanted a particular number bus that it was pulling away from the bus stop just as we arrived?  Every single time.  Then we would have to wait anywhere from 5 to 25 minutes for the next bus.  This time was one of those 25 minutes waits.  We stopped at a restaurant for cold drinks and air-conditioning; then retrieved the luggage from the hotel and took another bus to the Termini station with hopes that we might be able to change our tickets for the 20:25 express train to Salerno to the earlier 18:15 express train.  As long as it was a 2-hour express train, we wanted the first one available.  

HAH!  Not when we learned the price to change tickets for the earlier train!  It was not worth 101 Euro just to return 2 hours earlier.   Thanks; but, no thanks.  We opted to eat a very leisurely dinner and chat for 4 hours rather than pay that penalty and rate change.

In researching this trip I had run across warning after warning by travelers to be extra careful around the Termini station; crime rate in that area of Rome is very high.  No one posted about one of the reasons why the crime rate there is so high.  I assumed it was because of gypsies.  But, while there were some gypsies in that area, there were far more Africans.  These refugees have arrived in Italy with nothing except the clothes on their backs.  It is truly a sad, sad situation.  Below is a re-posting of what I posted on Facebook today about an experience at the Termini train station in Rome:

Earlier today on Facebook I posted a story about some African refugees being brought to Salerno by a Norwegian military ship a few days ago. This has happened several times yet there are very few Africans in Salerno. I *think* most of these refugees are finding their way to Rome since it is the largest city and might offer the best chances of carving out a living. Last evening while we sat in the dining areas of the Termini train station in Rome for 4 hours waiting for our train departure, we shared one dinner plate consisting of roasted potatoes and a roasted pig shin. Pig shin is really good and this one had a generous amount of meat, enough for all 3 of us. After we had finished eating and the plates had been moved aside as we chatted, an African man walked up to the table and quickly grabbed the shin bone off the plate; turned it up inside his hand so it did not show beneath his shirt sleeve; and quickly walked away.

This was a first! Never had anyone take bones from a plate in a restaurant! I explained to Elisabeth that this man is desperate and hungry. THIS is the person to give money to or for whom to buy a meal; not the folks begging on the street corners. She asked what he could do with that bone and we explained that if nothing else he could suck on the bone and he might get a few bites of meat off it; but most likely he would take it back to where he is living and boil it to get the most out of it.

We looked for this man but never found him inside the terminal. If we had found him we would have bought him a meal. The African refugees have a hard life in their new land. Even with that, they are better off here than in Libya.