back at tropea after our short sojourn in sicily. the marinella site was next to a nature reserve but, sadly, the constant rain meant we ate our evening meal inside and only ventured to the toilet and showers! this morning was brighter but very windy and when i went to look at the beach i could see it could have been a good stay but c'est la vie.

we spent a long while trying to find a supermarket. i was anxious to buy sicilian wine, corvo, which we used to drink at our favourite italian restaurant in camberley and a magnet for the naff collection on the fridge. we finally found a carrefour but it was not carrefour as we know it, jim! the food bit was still in a state of being built while the rest of the shopping mall was in full swing but empty of customers. on to the autoroute which pleased himself. hardly surprising as he had had to negotiate the morning traffic in every small town along the coast before we gave up! as we waited for a short time to move onto the ferry a street vendor had offered me a sicilian tea towel so I bought one as a substitute for the magnet. it won't stick to the fridge but I have my naff souvenir, along with my lump of etna lava! then the slick entry onto the ferry where lou tried a 'rustica' which appeared to be a deep fried ball of rice, meat and veg...not my idea of lunch, i have to admit but the coffee was excellent despite being from a machine.

then the dreary ride through the autoroute roadworks but with stunning views of the coast. at rosana we had the usual fisticuffs over the gps and ended up using two of the damned things. by a bit of judicious reading of the first few signs and ignoring tom tom we let leclerc take us on his meandering route to here! and it worked but thank heavens the destination is worth it! an hour of steep climbs, road surfaces reminiscent of romania and endless bends lou really deserved his obligatory arrival beer. my ironically labelled 'mr happy', the manager/owner? of the site positively welcomed me with open arms! i had only managed to raise a grunt and a grumpy shrug last time. This time it was all gestures and chat to ascertain if we had enjoyed sicily, were we going straight back to 'franchia' and a direction to a pitch safely away from the sea as the weather yesterday had been bad and the 'mare' and the wind had been making life unpleasant! Once we had settled on the pitch I went over to check in. I was waved away with 'no problem, madam, no problem'. You've pulled there, said lou! :)