arrivederci tropea

val and stu and their friends finally arrived on saturday evening. we'd spent a lazy day taken up mainly by my grappling with the campsite washing machine. there was a queue for its use and I kept missing my moment! I used the internet up by the office and got severely bitten while about it. Thank goodness for anthesan cream. we walked around to the beach road to meet up with them all for dinner. stu and val have a favourite restaurant down on the beach next to the marina. after a lot of fishy dishes we staggered up 'their' stairs for coffees in town and to catch some of the live music going on. it had been quiet during the day up there but was jammed with, mostly, young people by then. where do they all come from i wondered as it is a beast of a journey to get here and there are only tiny villages within an hour's drive. in fact i wonder how anyone makes a living here so far from any obvious industry or farming. yesterday we did our usual trek up the steps to buy something for lunch and have a coffee. the italian coffee is wonderful and worth the heart stopping climb.

val and stu appeared and we planned the rest of the day. they were off to the previous night's restaurant for lunch with their friends while we wanted a simpler affair chez nous. they came back for an apero and to check out the site and then off in their hire car with a promise to meet up later on 'their' beach for a swim and a sunbathe. the sea was a bit colder than last tuesday, the last time it was possible to swim. (the rain storm on thursday night had left the sea heaving and smashing waves all over our tiny campsite beach preventing from anyone daring to go in!) we all swam and regretted the loss of clear water, another result of the storm. a laze on a sunbed and a lot of chatting between val and i, bien sur! :) adjourning to the boat (our first glimpse of jackson) for a cup of tea on board and then home to change for dinner.

back to the port gates to a place stu calls 'mother's'. a simple place that barbecues fresh fish caught and cooked by the owner, antonio, and served in lavish portions.

we sat on plastic chairs on the concrete forecourt and had a whale of an evening, 'scuse the fishy pun! nearing midnight big hugs of farewell and a walk back under the wonderful views of the town perched above us to a sleeping campsite only to be woken at 5 this morning when the camper next door started up and left! onward to puglia and the trulli houses....