SUNDAY IN SICILA , ITALIA - Day 20

SUNDAY IN SICILA , ITALIA - May 13, Day 20

Sunday starts calm and sunny, voices carry from the land from many cyclists who take their early morning ride and seem to talk all the time to each other, not forgetting of course the body gestures which Italians are well known for. There are good facilities for cyclists and signs here show distant places on the cycle network. Italy hosts one of the annual classic Tours, the Giro d”Italia, and team colours are worn by many of the leisure cyclists. The Italian language comprises many long words and like the Spanish (I used to live in Spain) they all like to speak at the same time !! Actually words are not even needed for some things as they can convey many emotions with body language alone, and everyone understands it.

Our boat is not large enough to carry cycles otherwise we would surely enjoy regular cycling on these tracks and almost empty roads.

Walking past a café to the Marina’s shower block the lovely smell of fresh coffee is in the air. We are not addicted to coffee but enjoy one occasionally. Our Maltese friends advise to go early to the Stella Bar where fresh croissants are served, still hot, and if desired you can ask for a fill of custard inside.

Yesterday afternoon our sailing community at the Marina organised a BBQ. We rarely eat meat so were not attracted and anyway we were still working on the boat into the afternoon, then using the laundrette. It was not advertised but there was also live music which we could hear from the boat. That always attracts us and sometimes we dance, but as the evening went on and more wine and beer were consumed it sounded more like a drunken party. Later we observed one local musician who seems to show up anywhere there is drinking or music, staggering home in less than a straight line.

This blog started as Spiritual World Traveller Blog but this year I renamed it Conscious World Traveller Blog reflecting a shift in my own path. We still enjoy an occasional drink but we observe the “have more drinks and get louder” habits of many of the community. Nothing wrong with that but it is not “Conscious”. We would prefer to meet and chat in smaller groups. I will write more in later blogs about what we mean be “Conscious”. It is not snobbish. It reflects the progress we make on our life and Spiritual path. By Spiritual I do not mean Religious.

After our hard labours of the week we decided to spend a couple of hours at the beach of the “Riserva” which was really special. More about that later. Anita is an artist and feels at home amongst the driftwood. She selects a few pieces to incorporate into art and a few stones to paint. Our recent life style has made it difficult to paint canvas so Anita has been experimenting with crochet and wore her first creation, the yellow bikini, on the beach.

Anita and Jenny had agreed to make a meal together and arriving at Grand d’Artagnan just after five we found the work done. We enjoyed the last sun in the cockpit together with Jenny and Andrea..