That evening we attended in Porto-Vecchio a Corsican concert starring the Corsican singer Jacques Culioli. It was the perfect end to a wonderful three days.
During our stay in Corsica we could feel the weather change from summer to fall. Unsettled weather seemed to be more frequent, with heavy rain at times. The topsides of our boat were finally looking white and clean again. On Thursday, September 22, the first day of autumn, we departed Corsica for Rome, Italy. The winds we had hoped for never materialized, and so we motorsailed our way across the Tyrrhenian Sea to Rome, a distance of 134 nautical miles. En route, we were thrilled to observe our first large whale in the Mediterranean, only 100 yards off the stern of our boat. Twenty-five hours after departing Corsica we arrived at Porto Turistico di Roma, the marina in which we will be staying this winter.
Porto Turistico di Roma, located in Ostia near the original century 1st century AD Roman port, is a new first class marina consisting of 810 berths. The marina is almost completely full, and most of the berths are taken up by Italian boats, not foreign boats like last winter in Lagos, Portugal. Since our arrival we have been warmly welcomed by our Italian boat neighbors, making for a very special first week. This huge marina, almost a quarter of a mile in length, is full of shops and restaurants, and it has been fun to watch families come enjoy this marina and stroll along its esplanade, especially on the weekends.
We fly home to Florida for the holidays on October 13 and return to Rome on January 18. We will be in this marina until the first part of May when the weather once more turns favorable. During our stay here we plan to leisurely explore Rome, just an hour away via the metro, and also take side trips via the train to other parts of Italy. |
