We anticipated one and half to two hours from Palermo airport, but our car man was having none of that. Going 30 k over the speed limit all the way we were here in an hour. The scenery was spectacular. Mountains on one side, their feet dotted with little stone villages, then running out into the blue sea. It is stony country, steep, with blue overhead and blue pushing out to the horizon. Nice.
San Vito is not exactly as I imagined. I (we) was expecting something really slow, not many hotels, a few bars, but this is a local tourist spot and sort of perfect for what we wanted. It is a really beautiful beach. Proper Hawks Nest white sand, a little bit of wave action and a huge rocky headland. It has the European beach chair and umbrella system, but our people told us "free beach" which means you can plonk your towel down anywhere. Yippee.
It is maybe the equivalent of Terrigal or some such, not too far out of the big smoke, but far enough, plenty to do, lots of restaurants, bars, hotels, but holiday pace. So we have relaxed into the pace of gathering locals. There is not a great deal of English here, I have heard German and Scandinavian, but it is mainly Sicilians (or Italians ) who are holidaying. No Australians at all and only Michele has heard other Anglos in conversation. Yanks, she said. So, it has been back to sign language and the few Italian words we know to communicate anything. Mostly it is breakfast and eating out where we have had to get the message across and that is never too hard.
It has a family vibe. Lots of families out eating at night and plenty of street stalls, which is always great to see. Our hotel is nice, fabulous spot, but the staff are a little serious, not like most Italians in the tourist trade. There has been slow trade here, unlike the other places and I wonder if The Egitarso is maybe struggling a little. The staff don't seem to be having much fun. Jobs on the line? Low morale? Food poisoning? Dunno.
Anyway, most of our time has been on the beach.
Beautiful water. A thousand hawkers. I have not seen one drop of block out, let alone a rashie. When I got the shirt off on day one, children were cowering behind adults. "Whatta is it mama? Is ittta ghosta?"
"Don be frriten my bambino."
"Why hezza squirt milk on hisself?"
"Be brava Aldolfo."
"Now hezza squirt milk on his FEET Mama!"
The food has been great. A different restaurant every night and no disappointments, the gelato has been the highlight, the best ever, so we have given that a real nudge. We are packing tonight for our flight to Rome tomorrow. Overnight there, then the plane home.
It has been a really brilliant holiday, the eight weeks have flown by, can't believe it has gone actually But it is time to return Down Under and we are both looking forward to that, to see everyone again and to enjoy the familiarity of home.
A few things I am looking forward to. Seeing the kids. A pie. My guitar. The BBQ. The Ashes build up. And all the great people at SPC as I prepare for the big adios.
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