Two thirds gone

Four weeks in, two left. It's hard to believe, it's gone so quickly: time just stretches in the motorhome life, the days float by doing not very much but still somehow feeling like we are having adventures and experiences. I think it's because even the basic things like eating, shopping, and sleeping are all done in a new context all the time: not just in Sicily (and in my broken Italian) rather than in England and English; but in a different part of Sicily every day, or few days. It all adds up to lots of memories, but does also mean time flies. Anyway, we thought we would do a lot of Italy in six weeks but instead we will have seen Sicily, and not even all of that.

The main reason for this ruminating: we have decided on a return route. This morning Kevin booked our ferry from Palermo to Genoa for Monday night, which gives us a week and a half to get home through northern Italy and France. The rest of Italy will have to wait for another time.

But in the meantime, we have a few more days to enjoy Sicily. After packing up this morning we headed for Scopello, another village on this beautiful promontory, which had been recommended for a visit. And wonderful it was too. An easy parking spot for overnight on the edge of the village; a gentle wander through the pretty streets; lunch on a lovely terrace overlooking the bay (again, Jemima ordered best with her grilled fish of the day, but the rest of it was also good today); an ice cream in the square; then the best bit, a wonderful walk up and down the lanes through the wildflower-filled countryside, with a solitary donkey happy in a field (although down was definitely better than the steep ups with Jemima in the buggy - Kevin and I had to take turns pushing...). A final beer in the square in the sunshine, with Jemima making friends with the Italian granny in the bar, and a man with a budgerigar in a cage that made kissing noises when it pecked his finger (Jemima thought that was great); then back to Beatrix for a bit of Bing, and bread and cheese for dinner. Another glorious, inconsequential day.

Our parking spot:

Lunch:

Ice cream!:

Walking in Scopello and around:

 

Some great photos by Kevin:

Resting after uphill buggy-pushing:

A thirteenth century tower:

Camping El-Bahira, San Vito Lo Capo, to Scopello: