Ports of Paul

We hit our first three ports of Paul – Malta, Siracusa & Civitavecchia (Rome)… although we wondered if Paul visited Genoa also. Paul was shipwrecked on the Island of Malta & several churches bare his name. St. Paul’s Shipwreck Church is the local Catholic Church in Valletta and St. Paul’s Pro-Cathedral is the Anglican one. Read Acts 28 to learn about the 3 months Paul spent here.

Acts 28 also mentions Syracuse. As we pulled into the Port of Siracusa, Dolli remarked, “I wonder if this is the same location Paul came ashore?” It is interesting crafting a picture in your mind’s eye as you imagine the scenery from 2000+ years ago. We did learn a couple of interesting facts about Sicily, the island on which Siracusa is located. Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean & is home to 5 million people. We decided to take an excursion to a local beach – our first ever experience on the sand in Europe. On our 30-minute ride to the beach, the rural scenery consisted of mountains (well more like hills), olive groves & lemon groves.

Rome’s port is actually about an hour-and-a-half away at the small town of Civitavecchia… again, Dolli wondered aloud, “Is this where Paul came ashore on his way to Rome in Acts 28?” We opted just to stay on the ship because of the distance to Rome, so it was just a relaxing quiet day. Because this was a disembarkation & embarkation day for many, we had the whole pool to ourselves for about 3 hours.

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