Lobster legs, picnic and pizza

Yesterday was notable for two things. First, I got sunburnt. And I don't mean a bit pink, I mean glowingly, stingingly, redly sunburnt. This is practically unheard of; like the sensible (fair-skinned) person I am, I am very careful in the sun, to the extent that Kevin teases me that I never get a tan because I use too much high factor sun cream. But yesterday, that all went out of the window and last night I went to bed with sore shins and sore arms.

I think a contributing factor was the second notable aspect of yesterday: meeting a lovely family of four: Richard, Catherine and their daughters Lottie (10) and Libby (7). They arrived at our campsite yesterday morning - one of the very few English vans we've seen - and we got talking on the beach (Jemima and Kevin went down there in the morning while I did some washing, then I joined them). The girls started playing brilliantly with Jemima, and the next thing we'd decided to pool our lunch stores for a picnic and happy (if overly sun-soaked, in my case) afternoon on the beach.

It was very merry: the girls had endless amounts of fun with the sand and the sea, Jemima in heaven having these two big girls playing with her, even venturing in for a chilly swim at one point which she is never brave enough to do with me. And we grown ups ate, drank, chatted and laughed, swapping stories and sharing the joy of the motorhoming life (too busy, in my case, doing all of that to use the appropriate amount of suncream). They are intrepid, taking a year off to travel around Europe: this was the mid point of the second leg, with France and Spain done; Croatia and Slovenia to come this leg; and Scandinavia over the summer.

It turns out we could have met various times over the last year or so: we were in Florida at a similar time a year ago; both in Spain motorhoming last autumn; and now in Italy. They even lived in Suffolk a few years ago (this might explain why Catherine and I had a strange feeling we'd met before, but couldn't quite pinpoint the moment). And we also have the same (presumably universal) motorhoming arguments: driver to navigator, "why I am now driving down tiny one way streets?!"; and, when helping reverse, "you are standing where I can't see you in the mirror!"...

After a very jolly afternoon, I retired to the van to finish the washing, with three little elves offering to help which was great (or rather two older elves and a following Jemima - those girls were so lovely, and beautifully behaved). Then there was a bit of shared Paw Patrol viewing, which was enjoyed by all, before the evening's entertainment: making pizza.

Richard is blogging their journey like me, but with much more professional results (see lifeinavan.com); and rather wonderfully, Lottie and Libby have their own blog too, which includes a bakery section: yes, they bake in their motorhome. Amazing. (I brought a brownie tin around Spain and made nothing.) So again we pooled our ingredients (our sun dried tomatoes and basil with their pizza and focaccia bases and olives), and the girls made pizza.

Jemima was in heaven: ladling passata! Painting olive oil! Kevin was nervous: so much potential for mess... But Richard was gently guiding proceedings, and it was accomplished without mishap. Catherine was in the kitchen doing the difficult task of juggling hot things in a tiny space (I got off lightly, making a salad with Libby); and before long, we were all sitting down to some extremely tasty pizza. Some more chatting, then we prised a tearful Jemima away ("I want to sleep here!") and retired to bed.

A very successful baking session, at the end of a very lovely, unexpected day. It was even worth the sunburn.

PS Richard can do all sorts of exciting hyperlinks but I am not quite so technologically minded, so here, hopefully are the links to Richard, Lottie and Libby's records of the day:

http://www.lifeinourvan.com/our-blog/soaking-up-the-sun-in-taormina-with-new-friends

http://lottieandlibbyadventure.weebly.com

(I'm struggling to upload photos yet as we've run out of data, so you can look at theirs in the meantime! Hopefully I'll be able to put ours up later.)

Jemima and I on the beach:

Beatrix with a view:

Jemima making herself comfortable with Lottie:

Jemima, Lottie and Libby:

Pizza making!:

Richard supervising the Parmesan:

A fond farewell: