Chocolate, Cars and Buses

It was cloudy and cool today … dark skies threatened but after a sprinkle or two, didn’t do anything. There are countless ways of walking down to the lower section of town (Ibla) — all involve stone steps of varying widths and steepness … criss-crossing the road at times, or winding past doorsteps in a most personal fashion. Being Sunday most shops are shut tight and the streets are so quiet (apart from the church bells ringing every hour) it’s like we’re the only people about. In the main thoroughfare tobacconists are open, as are the churches, and family meals at restaurants are popular. A sign pointing to the chocolate factory … being Sunday I imagine it’s closed, but no, the owner had just locked his door but opened it again just for us. Google translate was a boon as he explained the two types of chocolate produced there … traditional with cocoa butter, which is smoother … and the original brought over by the Spaniards which just uses cocoa and sugar. The texture is quite different as you can feel the grittiness of the sugar before it melts on the tongue. The reason being it makes a great hot chocolate drink when heated. This is also a Choco Hotel … with several B&B rooms upstairs for those who want a total cioccolato experience!

On the way back up, the sun peeped through, and a couple of pauses to enjoy the views provided very welcome rests <I wonder if anyone has actually counted all the steps?> Phew! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragusa,_Sicily The first photo in the link is our view over Ibla. Not bad eh?

On Monday, we had a car booked for two days so the night before thought it prudent to check out the location so we’d know where to go. The address was 398C. Arriving at 398 there was only a dilapidated store and a vacant one on the corner. Well, this is not encouraging. We walked all around the block in case it was around the back … nothing. On the off chance I wandered across the road … “Glen! There’s another 398 here … and 398B and there’s 398C! This is Sicily … expect the unexpected!

Months ahead, long before we left Canada, the booking was checked and rechecked, assurances made that we could get 100% comprehensive for 70 Euros a day. Today however forms in Italian and English both stated (to varying degrees) that only a maximum of 80% would be covered, any accidents or damage would require us to pay the rest. We’d had no trouble getting full coverage in Spain and UK … and this was not good enough (especially with some of the drivers around). So, we said grazie ma non grazie, and left. There’s so much to see locally, not having a car wouldn’t be a hardship.

A small farm truck was just unloading fresh veggies to a grocer’s as we passed … everything looked so vibrant and dewy fresh, we just had to go in. Shelves of oranges, clementines, apples, pears …. boxes brimming with white AND purple cauliflowers, potatoes, broccoli and beans … bunches of fat, orange carrots like bouquets … and strawberries … oh the strawberries – in petite trays like perfectly polished rubies worthy of any jewelry shop window. A stack of thick brown paper bags (large and small) sat on the counter for customers to fill with their choice of produce … no guanti plastico (plastic gloves) required these days (even though they were available). Between our smattering of Italian, the shop assistant’s bit of English and a lot of nodding, we came came away with a shopping bag bulging with goodies. Plump pieces of chicken from the butcher’s shop across the street completed our purchases … that’s dinner sorted for tonight!

Tuesday — Brilliant sunshine, not a cloud in the sky. After much rummaging in the cupboard beside the washing machine and translating the fine print on all bottles and packages – no washing liquid was to be found, however Helena’s partner Giancarlo popped round with some and soon two loads (it’s a tiny machine) were drying outside on an airer. After lunch we took the bus to Marina de Ragusa on the coast … apart from one other person we had the coach to ourselves at first, but it soon filled — mostly with students leaving school. Out into the countryside … patchworks of spring-green fields each edged in miles and miles of neat dry stone walls topped with rounded caps … intermingled were huge swaths of brilliant yellow flowers (from the bus they looked like dandelions, but I don’t think they were), or paler primrose yellow cape sorrel with ribbons of bright orange calendulas or blood-red poppies. Along the verges were patches of low-growing magenta plants. If only we could stop and take photos! But this might give an idea of the flowers: https://smudgedpostcard.com/wild-flowers-sicily/

Marina de Regusa was a quiet seaside town … its enormous marina housed hundreds of sailboats, but also some truly massive catamarans … the size of houses. There were a couple of unusual geese sunning themselves and preening … one was easy enough to identify as an African Goose https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_goose however the other remains a mystery. In some respects it looked like a Brandt with its white collar, but it had an orange beak not black. Perhaps it’s a hybrid.

The washing had almost dried, but the heated towel rail in the bathroom is the BEST — finished drying the clothes in no time. Just like Spain every place has washing machines … but no-one has dryers.

Dinner tonight was a crisp salad and fresh tortellini stuffed with Parma ham (we concocted a sauce from tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, onions and dried Sicilian oregano) … mopped up with bread, of course. Creamy apricot yoghurt with tangy chunks of fruit was a nice finish.