A happy (chilly) return

4200 miles and 5 and a half weeks later, we're home. A fairly easy day - lots of driving for Kevin and the entire series of Ladybird First Favourite Tales for me, but we arrived home without mishap - although I did get a bit irritable at the thought of the unpacking to come.

Jemima was excited as we started getting close ("it's Horringer!"); and when we got home ran around happily playing with her toys while Kevin and I emptied Beatrix (thank you Kevin for calming me down). It was lovely to see the house, and the garden was looking great, all sprouting with spring. The only downside is that the boiler seems to have recently broken down as the house was 14 degrees when we got home, and didn't heat up despite Kevin's best efforts - the plumber is coming tomorrow. Beatrix's garage is actually currently warmer than the house, but we're all wrapped up so fine. And it's a good chance to look back at the last few week from the sofa.

We had a lovely time. The trip became much more about Sicily than we'd expected (once we'd got there, there didn't seem any reason to rush around so that we could see more of the rest of Italy - with Beatrix we can set our own pace, and Italy isn't going anywhere). And Sicily was more complicated than we'd expected: the infrastructure was very run down (bad roads, overflowing bins, Kevin's broken concrete - he says it's taken the mystique away from the Mafia for him, seeing their impact on the country); and it was a lot poorer than the rest of Italy (tiny pockets of vine or olive fields between houses; men working the land by hand or with tiny old tractors; lots of derelict old buildings and ugly modern ones). But it is also blessed with great natural beauty; incredible history still evident in the fabulous ruins from all centuries; wonderful fish to eat; and very friendly people. I read it described as bittersweet, and that makes sense to me. We are very pleased we've been, and had a great time, especially with the wonderful weather; but our next trip will be somewhere more developed as a contrast - maybe France, with their wonderful Aires and roads.

And that's probably a good place to end: on the lovely (lucky) thought of a new trip to come. Sorry I haven't been as disciplined about the blog and photos this trip, but if you have been reading, I hope you've enjoyed it. See you next time!