A Sicilian Sunday

Another hot one today. It was lovely having the awning out; Jemima and I went to collect bread and croissants from the campsite shop and ate them outside in the shade. Then we had fun doing some kids yoga DVDs together (I'm sure providing some amusement to our neighbours at points during the Silly to Calm DVD, which gets very silly indeed). Then onto the bikes and off to the beach, which was apparently a few hundred metres away.

It was a lovely long curve of sand with beautiful sea, a bit grubby in places like most of Sicily, but still very nice. And it was packed - this is clearly what you do in Isola delle Femmine on a Sunday. We cycled as far as you could go, then went back a bit (against the one way traffic - snail's pace cars because it was so busy, but still a bit scary) to a restaurant on the beach, and had panini and a pizza slice. They had an elaborate, very ineffective system for ordering - I was gone so long Kevin started to get worried - but we ate in the end, and it was tasty; and then we hit the beach.

Jemima was so happy. She immediately just started playing: drawing in the sand, splashing in the sea; running in and out of a big hole someone had dug. I went to join her and we some great games taking in turns to be a crab and chasing the other. Then I lay down for a bit and Kevin buried her and built forests from dried seaweed.

We were near another family with a little boy (Mattia, aged 2 and half), and after a while Jemima went over to say hello, and then started playing. (We checked the parents were OK with this and they seemed to be.) She seems even more sociable now - she meets a lot of people on this motorhoming life, and Sicilians have been universally wonderful with her, from 8 to 80, so she gets a lot of friendly encouragement. Kevin enticed her away with a toy barking dog from a beach vendor; and then it was time for an ice cream; and a cycle home.

After a brief recuperation, we headed out for dinner (Jemima with no nap can't handle eating late). We happened upon the evening passeggiata: the town was buzzing, with late lunches still finishing; children playing in the streets (lots of football); and seemingly every resident out and about. What they weren't doing, however, was having dinner. It seems Palermitans don't eat at 7pm - one restaurant didn't even open until 8pm. But we found somewhere, empty but open; and with Jemima fading, chanced our luck. We may have eaten alone, but we ate unexpectedly well: our best pizza yet, delicious bruschette, and ham and mozzarella, and very nice pasta. Jemima miraculously stayed awake until the end, falling asleep minutes after we got home. One more day on the beach enjoying this early summertime before our ferry.

The beach:

Off to dinner: