Tuesday, June 27, 2006: Dining under the stars

Tuesday was spent at the beach down past Savelletri. We called in at Emmezeta (local hypermarket) on the way out to pick up a few more pieces for the house: 2 under-bed storage crates, 2 small bedside tables, de-humidifying tablets, more fire lighters and charcoal for the barbeque, etc.

Then we hit the sunloungers till lunchtime at La Rotonda de la Rosa. After seafood antipasta washed down with 1/2 litre of local vino bianco Mary had the seafood linguini. I passed but had a tartufo nero (dark chocolate truffle icecream) over which they had poured a good measure of local liqueur. That meant we had to return to the sunloungers for a siesta until I was safe to drive home again.

The tan is coming along sporadically. Mary says I look like a Battenburg cake but it is more like a Neopolitan ice cream with tastefully contrasting blocks of coffee, vanilla and strawberry. Pass the (sun) cream!



That evening, for the second night running we barbequed in our newly enclosed courtyard. It is wonderful to be able to dine under the stars - clearly visible, there is so little light pollution - wearing just shorts and a T-shirt scarcely believing the cuteness of our surroundings. It was almost hallucinatory, can this - finally - be real.

It has been over three years since we first saw this place. It took 18 months to buy it with many false alarms and abortive trips to Italy. Then, once ours, the building works took forever (17 months so far) and might just be finished before we leave this trip.