As Tom hinted at in yesterday’s Facebook post, today’s blog entry is going to take some padding out! We’d always planned on the second week of the holiday being about rest and relaxation, and we’ve certainly been making the most of it!
Finally we achieved a lie in! With no hotel breakfast deadlines to get up for, and with amazing shutters that kept it almost as dark as the middle of the night, we managed to sleep until almost 10am, after which we arose at a leisurely pace, before heading out for a few extra supplies.
It was a slightly traumatic journey due to Sicilian driving striking yet again, but Tom’s quick thinking and braking meant that we just missed the bloke who pulled blindly out of his drive on his scooter! What was slightly amusing about it was that it didn’t seem to faze him in the slightest, whereas Tom and I were both still shaking slightly when we reached the supermarket!
This time we tried the local Lidl. Visiting Lidls or Aldis anywhere in Europe always bemuses me, as the lay out is the same wherever you are – we could have been in the Lidl on Halifax road, if it weren’t for the shelf labels being in Italian! We had a largely unsuccessful shop (suncream, which we are rapidly running low on, seems rather difficult to find over here!), but Tom was very pleased with his “Pope” candle!
Back at the villa, we spent a hugely taxing afternoon, filled with a mix of me reading my Kindle, Tom reading his Lego magazines, and a little colouring from me.
We of course also enjoyed lots of time cooling off in the pool (which Tom loves for its floatiness, as it is treated salt water), playing with my underwater camera and, especially, getting to know our over-friendly pool cleaner, which we have named Claudio. He works like one of the those robotic vacuum cleaners and, I have to say, does an impressive job – it’s one of the cleanest outdoor pools I’ve ever swum in. However, he is also surprisingly fast moving and, of course, attached a long hose which is then attached to the end of the pool. It’s not unusual to suddenly find yourself wrapped up in said hose!
Before cooking tea, I made good use of the outdoor shower, which is thankfully secluded! Not only is it incredibly refreshing and relaxing to shower in the late afternoon sun while looking out to sea, but it is also notably more comfortable than bending down under the very low shower heads in the villa – igloos mean walls that slope in quite quickly!
Dinner consisted of another barbecue, and very yummy it was too! Having bought some delicious Mediterranean vegetables yesterday, but having failed to find any skewers, we instead stabbed some holes in the bottom of a disposable roasting tray, which worked wonderfully when combined with Sicilian olive oil, black pepper and oregano – yum! We also backed potatoes in the coals, which were sweet and soft with deliciously crispy skins. Oh, and Tom cooked some meat of some sort, which he said tasted good – hehe! Finally, we had some good games of Blockade, which we are still very addicted to!
Tomorrow will be Tom’s turn to do the padding out, although we are planning to walk down to the sea in the morning, so we’ll see what material that adventure gives him!