Raffaellesco - Bill and Suzette's Sailing Adventure

 10/18/23 Cala di Medici, Italy We slept in and woke to rain, but calm. A good morning to hide below and listen to the pitter patter of rain on the deck. I spent a long time checking weather forecasts and planning an itinerary. With wind and rain today, I planned to stay the night here then on to Elba tomorrow. It is predicted to be rainy, but the high winds are subsiding. The gang went to the store about noon when there was a break in the rain, but did not get to far as the rain started again. In the afternoon the rain cleared and Suzette and I made the long trek to the supermarket with the wagon. It was about 1.5 miles through town and up the hill, but worth it as we found a big supermarket, Conad, our Italian favorite. It looked like a middle class town, but not old. There was a lot of industrial smoke stacks and cranes just south of town, probably the big employee. We made it back to the boat without getting any more rain. The Marina was relatively new and very nicely app...

10/11/23 Genoa, Italy The day was a bit gray, but a relief in terms of temperature. We had not explored the waterfront so we walked the Porto Antica. There were lots of well preserved old cranes for offloading of ships from a bygone era. This has been a working port throughout history and an early competitor for Venice. The huge warehouse buildings have been restored and turned into office and retail space. We needed a few things from a regular grocery store so we made a longer and steeper than anticipated trek to the closest store. They had most of what we wanted, especially the all important toilet paper. The walk took us into the newer part of the city, large apartment blocks and somewhat modern buildings, but nothing that stood out architecturally. Back on the boat we readied the ship as we talked with the neighbors about places we should and should not visit. They were traveling the med in the opposite direction from us. Away at about noon for a very calm motor, 75 degrees, ...