Sicilian Odyssey. . . . . . . .

Can't keep it under wraps any longer. . . . . . . . we are off in a few weeks

 on another beautiful ship, and I'm getting excited.

The MS Island Sky is one of the finest small ships in the world. Her sister ship,

 the MS Caledonian Sky, took me on that amazing expedition to Japan and the

 Russian Far East with my friend Paula in 2013.

You know how I love expedition ships with a small complement of passengers. 

You get to meet new people and have time to chat, and the always friendly

 crew members remember who you are and call you by name. This time there will

 be about 114 passengers with a crew of 75. Our group will number 10 so we'll be

 taking up much of the ship, we'll try to behave, haha!  We sail again with lovely

 friends from the UK, California, and perhaps a couple of new surprise travelers,

 plus of course Paula our wonderful friend and our group's great hostess.

This class of cruise ship is casual dress for the most part, no fancy evening

clothes required - always so much easier to pack for!

Also, there will also be at least one landing ashore by Zodiac boats, at the small

 Italian port of Agropoli, to visit Paestum founded by the Greeks in 600 BC, and

 to view the Temple of Poseidon.

The itinerary for this cruise sounds awesome. We'll meet up at Gatwick (UK) airport
 and fly to Naples, Italy where we transfer to the ship that afternoon and set sail
 in the evening for a nine day circumnavigation of Sicily, with a final disembarkation
 on the island of Malta. 

Although we've visited much of Italy, we've never been to Sicily, or Malta,

 so are really excited at what this trip will encompass. . . . . .from archaeological
 treasures to the recently erupting volcano, Mt. Etna.

More on the trip later as time to fly/sail away gets closer.