Fifteen good classmates and true, plus friends and/or spouses, found their way to the island of Malta last September 13th, where the good ship Le Ponant awaited us.   With more than a few new canes and hearing aids, and pills and passports secure, the sixth 1955 travel adventure was under way. 

For the next ten days, from Malta to Sicily, to the Aeolian Islands (dare you to find them!), to Capri, to Herculaneum, to the Rome’s posh Via Veneto, we enjoyed a non-stop kaleidoscope of sights and sounds and smells and tastes - and somebody else did all the cooking. 

A few of us got there early.   The Kelseys and the Fulmers had a great guided tour of the island of Gozo and also the ancient burial site at the Hypogeum.   We learned about the two sieges of Malta.  (Did you know that, in WWII, six times the weight in bombs was dropped on Malta as on London during the Blitz?   Britain’s King George awarded the George Cross to the whole island as a result.).   We were reminded of it by a late night fire alarm at the hotel - which resulted in about thirty jet-lagged people in ill-fitting white bathrobes sitting out on a Valetta curbstone at one o’clock in the morning for an hour.   A new vision for the natives... 

Then came Sicily - three different stops, three tours.   Don Boothman led us in a memorable singing of “Old Nassau” in the echoing Ear of Dionysius cave at Syracuse.   A drenching rainstorm at Taormina brought waterfalls down the streets and some very hairy Zodiac adventures for the McVays.  An unplanned bus trip to board the ship in Messina involved a mudslide-caused three hour traffic jam on the highway.  Then our route went over to the western tip of the island, to the big city of Palermo, and the little seaside town of Castelmare - where we all got a swim - the beautiful temple at Segesta, and the mountaintop town of Erice. 

Then we cruised among the fabulously beautiful Aeolian islands, and got a spectacular tour of Lipari - where we finally got a good look at Mount Etna.   Much picture-taking and obsidian jewellry - this was my favorite day of the trip.  It was topped off by a cruise past the live volcano on Stromboli, which even belched fire and red lava for us - a truly memorable sight in the night. 

Next up was Amalfi, and a marvelous luncheon atop the mountain in Ravello.   Tourist trap it may be, but no one should miss this gem.  We even got a band concert in the town plaza, and a quite incredible bus ride back down the “Mama Mia” highway to our ship, during which our driver received several “Bravo Vittorio” cheers - well deserved, too.   The launch ride out to our ship provided an extremely close near miss with a speeding ferry boat - and much expletive-laden shouting to liven up that beautiful harbor.   Ask the Willemsens and the Evanses just how close it was. 

We left the ship at Naples and bussed over to Herculaneum, where we re-lived Roman life of 1900 years ago.   Then up to Rome, and the posh Hotel Majestic.  That night, Tauck Tours pulled off a logistic truimph: five bus loads of various groups in the same place at the same time, for a  long, and uncrowded private visit to the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel.  Imagine forty-five full blissful minutes, SITTING DOWN, to gaze at Michelangelo’s ceiling, whose newly restored colors were a blazing contrast with what the ceiling looked like fifty years ago! 

Next day we got a final tour of Rome among teeming hordes of other visitors (what was that about an economic downturn?):  St Peters Square and Basilica, the Forum, and the Coliseum, then an afternoon to roam on our own, and a final gathering at the hotel. 

Miscellaneous Notes and Memories:   Certain classmates (Drew Carey, Charlie Mapes) do not appear to have gained one ounce of weight since graduation, and Gordie Douglas is close behind (Thank you, Sheila Mahoney!).   Nice to have classmate John Wilson and his friend Katie Downes on this trip.   Palazzo Parisio in Malta:  How are you supposed to sleep, or do anything else, in a bed where the Virgin Mary is on the ceiling with her beady eye on your every move?  Definition of Lipari tri-kini: hat, sunglasses, and flip-flops - period.  Where did Mario Cuomo come from?  The hill village of Tramonti - among the lemon groves near Amalfi - we went right through it.   Best food on the trip for us was in Rome, the glorious penne carbonara and fettucini tartufo (truffle sauce) at Tre Scalnini Restaurant in the Piazza Narvona.   Best troopers on the trip: Bob and Carol Amick - a step or two slower than many, but dead game the whole way.  Best masquerade of the trip: John Perkins - not an old grump, despite his best efforts.   Enviable extension:  Sidfords, Hornes, Careys, and Kelseys by train for extra days in Venice and the obligatory - and justly so - ride in a gondola.   

Now we’re all home again, getting over our jet lag, and considering Thompson’s proposal for the Amazon next year.   No stopping some people!