37.30.251N 13.04.697E

Saturday: We woke up and hung out the washing we had done last night. There is a pretty decent washing machine here, which is locked away in the disabled toilet. We tried to get the key yesterday lunchtime, but were told it was in use. At about 6pm one of the marinaros bought the key to us so we thought we’d better get our washing done. Once the laundry was in the machine we popped back to Wanda for a glass of wine while we waited. 

Once the washing was hung out we set off up the hill once again. This time we took the route suggested by Antonella (the lady from the marina office). This route took us up some beautifully tiled steps.

At the top we came out by the Basilica. We popped our heads in. Unfortunately we were both wearing shorts so couldn’t really wander round inside but Stephen took a quick picture.

Inside the Basilica

We then went to find the geothermal gardens. We found some rather pleasant shady gardens that had a duck pond (well we think they were geese really) One of the geese had managed to escape the pond and was wandering round the outside of the fence trying to work out how to get back in. His friend meanwhile was swimming round keeping up with him, maybe trying to offer morale support. We left them going round and around...

Maybe an MP’s expense bill!!

We found the geo-thermal gardens, but unfortunately these were locked at the top and we didn’t fancy walking all the way back down to see if there was an alternative way in. Instead we headed further up the hill towards the castle. On the way we passed the church of Saint Maria delle Giummare.

Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Guimmare

In front of the church was a small courtyard with a lovely little outdoor alter

We continued upwards towards the castle. For some reason we didn’t take a picture of the castle, maybe we were so exhausted from the climb or the lack of oxygen made us confused. We decided we would have a look round the castle however when we found out they wanted 7 Euros each for the privilege we changed our minds, especially as it appeared to be very run down. We decided to carry on up the hill to the very top. Once there we found a market. Anne bought a new dress for 3 Euros out of our 14 Euro “savings”. We then found a café and stopped for an ice cream. Looking back we think it was actually rather nice ice cream but we were both so exhausted we ate it automatically. It was certainly far easier walking back to the boat!

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One of the ornate doorways found in town.

On the way back down we passed a stage being constructed. Maybe it will be noisy tonight? We then dropped in to the supermarket for some gorgeous fresh Italian food.

The winds started picking up this afternoon and this marina is obviously going for the greatest swell with minimum wind award. It won. We spent the afternoon sailing nowhere tied to the pontoon. Koshka and Yoyo are not impressed.

In the evening we heard the music. We looked up the event and discovered it was an aerobics competition. Stephen was very keen to visit but Anne decided that he would be too sweaty and out of breath climbing the hill again…or something like that!