Malta

After leaving Mahdia, we spent three idyllic days at anchor in Lampedusa under the Q flag, so we never even went to shore. Instead we enjoyed the sun, scenery and swimming.

We left with a perfect sailing forecast for the 100 mile trip to Malta, but we set off motoring and in the end motored all the way under calm conditions.  That, at least, is the next best alternative.

We are now moored in Sliema creek and are feverishly anticipating a hike through the historic and fabulous Valletta.  We plan on spending a few weeks exploring Malta .

Branko

Tah tah, Tunisia

Mahdia, Tunisia
July, 2014

We spent a month in Monastir and now we have spent just over a week in Mahdia, which is 30nm south.  We have been tied up to a Libyan trawler in the fishing port.  There is no marina here and that suits us well.  It costs 10 dinars per day, which equals about 4 euros.  Everybody is very friendly especially our neighbors.  Captain Mohammed has showered us with gifts including sweet and savory snacks, a delicious Libyan watermelon, a couple of jerry cans of diesel, and a heavy duty tuna rig, with instructions, that is guaranteed to catch a fish on the way to Malta.  Our gifts in return have been a deck of playing cards with maple leaves on them, a Canadian flag, a jar of my hot sauce, and some of Maggie's baking.  The owner of the boat, also named Mohammed, assures us that we would have a delightful time in the event that we visited Libya.  We will consider doing just that next spring to get to Turkey.

Mahdia is a typical Tunisian coastal resort town, but in ancient times it played an important role as a fortified trading port beginning with the Phoenicians.  The town is situated on a peninsula which was then completely encircled by a wall that stood until the Spanish razed it in their campaign to oust the Arabs from Spain several hundred years ago.  The town is also well known for the weavers of silk and cotton cloth that toil for a pittance in small shops in the medina using methods that are as ancient as the town. We splurged on a few beautiful examples of their work.  The weavers' big payday comes when they are commissioned to make an outrageously elaborate bridal costume, which will cost upwards of three thousand euros and take a couple of months to make.  I am not sure what the average annual per capita income is in Tunisia, but I suspect it is below the cost of the bridal gown.  This I say because a young man working on a boat in Monastir told me he would like to find work in Europe because it was very expensive to get married in Tunisia.

It looks like our time here is coming to an end. The forecast for sailing to Malta looks good for a departure tomorrow. We might make a brief stop in Lampedusa on the way just to be able to swim while at anchor, something that we have both missed very much during our port days.  Tunisia has been a great destination and we look forward to returning next spring when we move eastward.

Branko

Our Anniversary: 4 years and Lovin' it

Monastir, Tunisia
July 1, 2014

Happy Anniversary Branko!  Thank you, for everything.

Here I sit in Tunisia,  four years after leaving Toronto.   As Nadia says, "we went straight and returned in a week,  you turned left and have yet to return."  and now we are in Africa.
That left hand turn was a doozy.

Memories of Charlie and Peg, setting off with us for the first 3 days' adventure.  Fireworks at anchor, drifting down the lake (our anchor had let go) having coffee and marveling at the passing landscape, and laughing.  As these years pass,  I still remember fondly and vividly this particular trip, which remains close to my heart.

I reflect, at how time has slowed down.  Although, surprised that 4 years have passed so quickly,  I appreciate the fullness of this life which marks each day as an individual experience.  A tally of new places, people and knowledge that I feel would have taken my entire lifetime to amass.
One common thread however, in all the travelling is the wonderment, kindness and generosity of people worldwide,  other cruisers, friends of friends, locals, children and new family.  Regardless of language and cultural differences,  people have been my greatest joy.

From Richard and Diane in Quebec, to Geri and Alan in Bahamas, Yoshi and Fumi in the Azores, Conchi, Lidia and the Almerimar/Murgiverde team in Spain, Branko's Croatian family, Katie, Tim, Molly and Louie in Montenegro, Lazy Bones - Jeff and Gayle,  Marina di Ragusa group (so many special people) and recently new friends here in Tunisia, and so many more people I have yet to list.
Of course the adventures we are having mean little, without our good friends and family in Canada, who will always be with us no matter where we go.  

Thank you all for making life so wonderful.

Maggie (Margaret)

Tunisia, 2014

Happy anniversary, Maggie.  Thanks for helping make it all happen.

As I sit here this morning, the eve of our fourth anniversary of our departure from Canada, singing and playing guitar while hiding from the blast-furnace winds that seem to blow directly from the blazing African sun, I hear the call to prayer from the mosque here in Monastir.  Ramadan has begun in Tunisia, the holy month for Muslims when they abstain from any nourishment and sex during the daylight hours.  They are probably praying for the sun to set early.

Singing and playing guitar!  Did I just hear myself say that?  That's new.  I also hear languages being spoken.  From our Italian neighbors across the dock I can grasp the meaning of a few phrases thanks to our stay in Sicily; from the locals I hear Arabic and I will likely never understand any of it.  Tunisia is a former French colony and French is spoken here by many as a second language, so I have been trying to learn a little because it will also be useful elsewhere in the world.  There are, unfortunately, no Spaniards about and my Spanish is getting rusty, as is my Croatian now that we aren't there any longer. No worries, though, we'll be back in those places soon enough.

Abstaining!?  Nobody I know back home is doing any of that, unless they have to, nor are many of the hundreds of people that we met since leaving. But a few of the friends that we have made here probably are.  There certainly are a number of different ways to spend your life's time, and it certainly depends on where you are but, more importantly, on what you are.  Be rich or poor, be joyful or despondent, be healthy or unwell, be urbane or a hick, be in possession of things or having them repossessed, be hardworking or lazy, they all count if you make it count. The hard part is learning how.

Pardon my philosophizing, but for me it's now unavoidable.  Over the past four years I have spent my days beholding the beauty of nature and cowering from it, entering a new culture and trying to understand what makes people different and what makes them similar, reading of the history of the places that we visit, getting to know people like I have never wanted to before and just plain trying to understand them.  I am learning to count.

I know the times they are a'changin and I think to myself ... what a wonderful world ... as it drifts by our little boat.  I also know that it is we who might be wonderfully drifting, but a very wise man determined that it's all a matter of relativity.  It doesn't matter either way; because, it's the appreciation of the motion that counts.  Forgive me Mr. Einstein.

Branko