This year the feast of St Paul’s Shipwreck (February 10) falls on a Monday – with a long weekend in store. Syracuse offers a fitting getaway – it was St Paul’s first stop on his departure from Malta, commemorated to this day by a beautiful statue of the saint in front of the façade of the cathedral. Unlike in Malta, he did not bring Christianity to Syracuse as he was beaten to it by St Peter. Syracuse is just an hour away from the ferry port of Pozzallo.