November 2nd – Homeward Bound

So, after 35 fun and occasionally exhausting days on the Silver Spirit, it was time to fly back from Rome to London. We had a great time catching up with old friends, making some ones, and seeing some fabulous sites.

Sadly, a fog-bound London wasn't quite ready for us, so we had a bit of an extra wait at Fiumicino Airport, but eventually we got home.

We now have a week in London, before we go to Seville for a month. Hasta La Vista!

November 1st – Searching For Caravaggio in Naples

Strong winds prevented us from anchoring in Sorrento, so instead we headed to the nearby port of Naples, giving us the chance to explore this crazy, chaotic city once more. Our (rather disappointing) encounter with a Caravaggio in Siracusa, proved to be our inspiration today, as we attempted to tick off the three Caravaggios that Naples can boast.

I get the feeling that Caravaggio would have felt quite at home in Naples – like him, the city is inspirational, crazy, dysfunctional, brooding, full of life and occasionally dangerous. When he was at the height of his powers, in 1606 (aged 35) he ended up killing a man in Rome in a brawl, and he fled south to Naples with a price on his head. He picked up a couple of commissions here, before heading for Malta to live under the protection of the Knights of St John (where he painted the two masterpieces on display in Valletta's Co-Cathedral).

But, Caravaggio couldn't stay out trouble for long, he got involved in yet another fight, and had to escape from prison to Sicily to paint the painting we saw in Siracusa a couple of days earlier, and the two masterpieces on display in Messina that we saw two years ago. By now, Caravaggio's restlessness and isolation were coming through in his artistic style, and he quickly moved on, back to Naples again. Here, it appears that he was attacked and badly wounded, before he decided to return to Rome to get forgiveness. Sadly, he never made it, dying on the road to Rome, of a fever (or possibly syphilis, or lead poisoning which could be an explanation for his volatile behaviour). So, possibly the greatest artist of all time, died sad and lonely at the age of just 38.

The first picture we saw, was his last ever painting, "The Martyrdom of St Ursula", undertaken on his final return to Naples after he'd been attacked and his sight possibly damaged. The painting was on display in the Palazzo Zevallos Stigliano, and is one of his more dramatic paintings – capturing the exact moment that the shocked St Ursula is hit by an arrow, coming to the realisation that she was just about to die. In the background is a poignant image of Caravaggio himself, with an anguished look on his face – you feel like he knew that his tempestuous life is soon coming to an end.

We then moved on through the frenetic Neapolitan streets to see our second painting, "The Seven Works of Mercy", on display in the church it was commissioned for – the Pio Monte della Miscordia. This was painted on his first visit to Naples, while he was looking to make some cash and contacts to put an end to his exile. While his genius and artistic skill is evident, to me, it seemed one of his least coherent works – a real jumble of figures and allegories. It felt like a reflection of his scrambled mind at the time, desperately juggling ideas and concepts in an attempt to get some mercy.

By now, we were on a Caravaggio roll, so we hopped onto the most crowded bus I've ever been on, and travelled up to the Gallery at Capodimonte, one of Italy's premier art galleries, to see our third and final work. At this point, we had a good news-bad news situation. This being the first Sunday of the month, it was free to get in – good news. But, only a part of the display was open, and not the part that included Caravaggio – very bad news!

We set aside our disappointment to whizz through an amazing collection of Raphaels and Titians (plus lots of other masters) – if this was just a small proportion of what was on offer, it would take days to take it all in. There's an old saying, "See Naples and Die", which isn't a reflection of its reputation for crime, but more that once you've seen everything that Naples has to offer, there's nothing left to live for.

Well, with one more Caravaggio still to see, we've haven't seen everything yet, so we'll have to come back before we die – but, as that other artistic genius Meatloaf said, two out of three ain't bad!

October 31st – Finding Greek Treasures From Trapani

It's odd to think that one of the very best places to find ancient Greek relics and sites isn't actually in Greece, but in Sicily. That's because, 2,500 years ago, Sicily was an integral part of "Magna Graecia" (Greater Greece), as various Greek city states set up thriving colonies on the island.

One of the largest and most significant of them, was the town of Selinunte on the western side of the island (about an hour from our port in Trapani), which at its peak in the 5th century BC, was home to around 100,000 people, and boasted a number of enormous temples. Sadly, the Selinunteans got on the wrong side of the Carthaginians, who sent over Hannibal to lay waste to the city in the 3rd century BC. The city never really recovered from that, and it was slowly abandoned, before being lost for good when a 5th century AD earthquake caused a huge tsunami to knock down whatever was left sanding, and cover it in a thick layer of sand.

That means that about the only relics of this once-magnificent city, are its huge temples, a few of which were reconstructed in the 1920s and 50s, to give us some idea of their monumental size and architectural sophistication. Even though they're all that's left, you can't help but be impressed by them – plus, being in such a peaceful seaside location surrounded by swaying grasses and wild flowers, makes for an incredibly evocative setting.

It amazes me that places like Olympia and Ephesus get star billing on the ancient ruin circuit, yet a place like Selinunte hardly gains a footnote. But, the great thing is that its lack of notoriety means that the site has been almost deserted whenever I've been there, so I've been able to visit the remains of what was once the biggest Greek temple of its time, in utter peace and quiet. And, it's when you're standing in amongst the scattered pieces of enormous columns, that you begin to reflect on the engineering skills of the ancients, as these 20-tonne blocks of stone were hauled into place and slotted together. A wonderful relic of the ancient Greek world.

In the afternoon, we had a quick exploration of Trapani itself. The city's not in bad shape for a place that was nearly bombed off the map in the Second World War – its historic centre is far more attractive than a place like Messina. Having said that, on a Saturday afternoon of changeable weather, it seemed almost deserted. But, we had a stirring walk around the sea walls and enjoyed the sun when it came out.

Yet again, Sicily has delivered. Beautiful countryside, amazing ancient sites and atmospheric cities – for me, it's the best of all of Europe's islands (apart from Britain perhaps!).

October 30th – Segwaying Around Malta

One of the attractions of Malta always used to be its collection of stylish (but chugging) old 1950s buses left over from British times. Sadly, in the last few years, EU emissions laws have meant that these old smokers have been phased out and replaced by more modern, but less characterful new buses.

So, seeing as Malta's transportation has been significantly updated, I decided that it was time to take the most futuristic transport possible – a trip on an electric segway. I had to admit to my group of novices that I have actually ridden a segway before (in Antigua) – a fact that I was trying to keep secret, in case I either turned out to be useless, or on the off-chance that I could look like a complete natural and start whizzing around like an old pro. As it happened, riding a segway is so intuitive that I immediately picked it up again and was immediately showing off – it was like riding a bike (so to speak).

Malta is one of the most densely populated countries in the world, with 400,000 people crammed onto this tiny island, whose roads are busy with over 300,000 cars; so that meant we needed to keep out of the way of the traffic-filled streets of the capital, Valletta. Instead, we merrily zoomed around the back roads of Malta, passing by fields of vegetables demarcated by dry-stone walls, old palaces from the days of the Knights of St John, and over to the impressive cliffs at Dingli.

The thing about segwaying, is that after 5 minutes, it feels totally natural – you don't really have to think about what you're doing, you just zoom along enjoying the views. At the end of it all, walking esseemed so boring – it's just so 20th century.

Malta is a place where there's history all around you – what a great place to go back to the future.

October 29th – Siracusan Splendours in Sicily

I've always thought that Siracusa was the most attractive of all the Sicilian cities (and that's saying something on an island of so many gorgeous cities), and today confirmed that.

Not only was Siracusa one of the leading cities of the Ancient Greek world, a time when it was a genuine rival to Athens and home to Archimedes; but it also can boast an amazingly harmonious array of flamboyant baroque architecture, all carved out of golden limestone. That's because the city was able to turn a massive negative (being totally destroyed in a terrible earthquake in the 17th century), into a huge positive, by an ambitious re-building plan using the predominant architectural style of the time – baroque.

Actually, Siracusa is like two different cities – you have the oh-so-beautiful little island of Ortigia where all fabulous historical architecture, restaurants and boutique hotels are; and then, on the mainland, there's the mundane modern city of 170,000 people, concrete buildings and typically Sicilian chaotic traffic. Unsurprisingly, we concentrated our time in Ortigia.

After a 20th century of neglect and urban decline, Ortigia has undergone something of a renaissance in the last few years, as many of its grandest buildings have been cleaned up and restored. At the centre of it all, is its once-again gleaming cathedral, whose stunning architecture neatly sums up the island's most glorious high points. On first glance, it looks like a typical baroque confection – jutting columns, dramatic statues and curling scrolls – but, look a bit harder and you see that it's all based upon the enormous Doric columns of an ancient Greek temple – the columns stick out of the more modern plasterwork.

We also went to another church to see Siracusa's greatest piece of art – Caravaggio's brooding Burial of St Lucy. Sadly, the passage of time and insensitive restorations have left this masterpiece a little too dark to make out the action and sense of drama that is Caravaggio's hallmark. It all seemed a little too much like a big splodge of brown with some feint characters superimposed – we hope for better when we get to Naples.

The best way to explore Ortigia is to just wander at random through its atmospheric streets and narrow lanes. Once you're off the beaten track you also get to appreciate that the urban regeneration still has some way to go, in its array of crumbling old buildings and cracked pavements (which sadly boast a pretty good covering of dog mess).

But, Siracusa's wonderful combination of great food, great history, lively streetlife and stunning architecture has inspired us to come back here to this part of the world for longer. We think that September 2016 could be our month in Sicily.