We finally saw....

the Mediterannean Sea. Now you may think that's not a big thing but we had to travel across the island to get there. And you know what? It looks just like the Ionian and the Tyrranhian Seas. It's a beautiful blue, not like any other body of water we've seen. Maybe it looked prettier because we had set out on our own and actually found it.

Bob got an old map poster that we plan to frame and the name there is "Straits of Africa." Guess it can be called anything---the important thing is to find it. And we Did!! The photos here are of the Mediterannean and the beach we found.

The trip that day was to a town called "hideous" by the travel books. I don't know if that's a good word to describe it but Gela isn't the most beautiful city in Sicily. It looks as if a whole city were half built. Concrete buildings looking like skeletons with no glass in the windows, no paint, just not finished. Or...buildings finished with no paint, no gardens/yards, no beauty at all. In a the nearby town of Falconara we did find a nice restaurant with really good Minestrone soup.

That's where we found the Med, too.

On a personal note, I'm officially "excessed". That means my position is being cut out here at the naval base. They say I will most probably have a job next year but it's not known yet where we'll be. Wherever it is will be a new great adventure. Could be several places in Europe or the Pacific. We'll have to wait until March (I think) to find out where our new assignment will be. Then we'll make a decision whether to stay with this for another year or come home.