Sicily; Spectacular Sunset

I finished my chores just in time to settle into a deck chair with a Spritz for another glorious sunset. It is a lovely evening here, with just a breath of wind (not the normal gale) and birds singing the sun to sleep.

Isla and I had a lovely swim first thing this morning; well, first thing for me, 8:30am until 10:30am. I don't think we've mentioned the inspirational walker who Christopher and I have seen almost every morning we walk the beach. He is a very fit, lean and happy gentleman who walks the entire length of the beach every day - or at least that is what we have understood. His name is Francesco, after his father and he has a niece who is studying at Oxford, of whom he is very proud. He walks with two ski poles, a style that Chris and I have adopted, using the local (and easily found) cane.

After Isla and I had finished disporting ourselves in the sea, I cycled into Balestrate for provisions and my daily Italian lesson. I very much enjoy the time that everyone takes to speak with me and share the news of the day, their life, or just to talk about the weather. The woman who waits on us at the "Dolce Vita Bar Lounge", which is our favourite coffee shop for it's clientele (which includes women) and its very clean washroom, told me she'd just returned from a trip to Milan where she cycled to work on her 'forma' (shape). She explained she enjoyed her solo time, making common ground with me, because everyone has noticed Christopher's absence, we've become a regular sight on that 4 blocks of Balestrate.

Enzo the fish monger had some lovely fish today, after having none for a number of days due to the rough weather. The fishermen here use very small, mostly open boats and with the storms of the weekend they were stuck in port. Yesterday on the beach, after the storm, I found a perfect little insulated lunch bag that i used to get the fish home cool as a cucumber. I am sure that Enzo told me the fish was called 'siluro' in Italian, but without the spelling, I can't identify it. That translates into 'torpedo' ... I have had this fish before, but not often - it has a crooked line of bones on it's side that aren't scales... Anyway, on the charcoal BBQ it was quite delicious. I ate the entire thing without difficulty.

For those who are missing photos, I'm stuck with the Mac not liking blogger, or vice versa and the photos won't load. When Chris is back in 8 days (yes, I am counting) photos will start to reappear.