Yesterday was a quiet day as Sonia's Zia Christina passed away overnight. The funeral was held late yesterday and as Sonia didn't know exactly when the funeral was she waited at the villetta for information. Mili and I walked up to the big local market which is an annual occasion. There were a lot of sellers along the road with everything you could think of if you wanted to buy. Last night there was another festa in the village - this time Festa des Immigrantes...

My birthday - what a great location for me to celebrate my birthday. I woke early and my sister rang from Australia. It was nice to speak to a voice from home. Then Sonia and Mili sang happy birthday to me when I went to the villetta. It was a cool morning with quite a bit of rain but it cleared around late morning. We had watched it come up the valley - it arrived in the form of a huge cloud and swept past the villetta and up around the village and over the moun...

Sunday 9th was a rest day - we didn't venture out but caught up with household chores - washing clothes, floors etc. followed by a siesta in the afternoon. A tropeo came through again at about 3 pm (seems to be a daily occurrence in Summer) which lasted well into the night. It did cool everything down beautifully. I cooked pasta with zucchini and bacon in a creamy sauce, with a tomato and cucumber salad. Delicious! Monday 10th was spent in leisurely fashion, ...

Yesterday we went to Palinuro which is a seaside town below Montano. The drive is around 30 minutes through very picturesque country, winding down the mountain and through tunnels and across very high viaducts. The Italian philosophy for road building seems to be if it is in the way go through it, or build a bridge and go over it. My tunnel phobia has all but disappeared - I'd never go anywhere in Italy if I hadn't conquered it. We arrived at the seaside and f...

Saturday 8th August - yesterday we went for a drive around the mountain and saw the village from a different side, through farming country and along winding roads, finally arriving at Palinuro which is on the Mediterranean and a popular resort area. It was incredibly busy and very crowded, so we headed back to the village after checking out the best place to come back to for a swim today. Sonia also showed me some very interesting ruins and a viaduct which was ...