Wet Wednesday

We got some rain overnight and early this morning. By the time we set off for our walk at 7:30 it had stopped raining.  The usual loop around the island. Not many people walking around today, it is very quiet.  First day we have broken out our rain jackets.

Only a drizzle and we have our rain jackets, hopefully it does not get worse

Houses with tiles, not many like this, only a handful. 

The cat house also has cats on the side as well, First time we noticed.

A few puddles here

Garage door, not finished and looks like they are not working on it either

Most windows have small balconies

Me and Wendy this morning

In the morning in the area between the 2 bridges there are always fisherman taking fish out of their nets. Looks like they pull all their nets in the boats and then wait until back at the shore to remove the fish. This morning one of them had a big fish and he was showing it to his biddies, so I asked him if I could take a picture.

A couple of buckets of fish. Do not think they can support a family on that or maybe you can

We then finished our walk thru the market area just for fun.

The tents are back

A small patch of poppies where we walk, maybe about 30 of them. Saw lots last weekend in the fields

Swordfish.

I went for a walk to the Duomo square to see if I could find some puddles to do reflection pictures but there were none. It did not rain tons and the square drains well.

I went to an information spot that we had seen last week but was not open at that time. I got a free map of Sicily which I was going to buy one, so that was good. Got a couple of brochure for the area as well. The man working there was not 100% fluent in English, so did not get tons of information from him. They have a painted wagon there, so I will return with Wendy at another time.

For our lunchtime walk we walked the streets in search of a place where Wendy can get a good pair of walking sneakers. The store I had seem earlier was closed since it was pass 1PM. Many store still close here in the afternoons. We also went to make a reservation at a restaurant where we want to make supper but the couple that was outside waiting for a table told us no reservation. The restaurants has been full almost every time we walked by this week. It also has good reviews on TripAdvisor and the prices looks reasonable.

Also stopped at the information center to show Wendy the painted Wagon.

This is at the end of our little street.  Wendy knows where to turn onto our street when she sees this.  When we first got there we had no idea it was a coffee shop, it has just opened

It rained a good part of the afternoon but it stopped more or less around 5PM. Read travel books for plans for this weekend.

We left the apartment around 5:30 and was on the hunt for pictures for a contest that is due at the end of the month. Did not get great ones but will keep looking.

The store that was closed earlier was open again. Wendy found at pair that she liked and was 65 Euro which is close to what she would pay at home, maybe not at Costco but at a shoe store at the mall. Here there is also no additional taxes to pay, so what you see is what you pay here.

I think if you buy over a certain amount you can get the Value Added Tax (VAT) back. I am not 100% sure about that. I don't think we will be buying much more anyway.

Restaurants and bars are also the same, no extra taxes and tipping is not expected except maybe a few coins or a Euro or 2.

Small church St Paul that we had not been into yet

A little bits of light reflection, near the Duomo

Quiet restaurant, nobody is eating outside tonight

Small alley way near our apartment

We stopped by the restaurant we wanted to go and asked if we could make a reservation and the waiter said no. He said if you come before 7:30, there should be no ok, maybe a small wait. We walked the street until about 7 and went in no problem. Only 10 table inside 9 of them for 2 and 1 table for 4. There are also 2 table of 2 outside but no one was sitting outside tonight because of the weather.

We had a delicious supper. We shared a plate of cheese to start with (8 Euro). It had 8 cheeses to taste which was nice selection. Wendy had chicken scaloppini with beets and I had pork tenderloin with a red wine sauce and mashed potatoes. Here is it not like home where every main course comes with a starch and a vegetable. Here you often get one or the other and sometimes neither and you order sides and you want. We shared a nice bottle of red wine and the bill was 53 Euro. Forgot to mention, we shared a cake with Ricotta Cheese and nuts. We were very happy with the meal and will probably return as they also have a nice pasta selection to choose from.  The tables are really close together, so you pretty much visit with your neighbours, we heard 4 different languages while we were there, but everyone spoke some English at least.

The waiter was telling another table that in the summer, they open at 11AM and it is full until they close at 11PM, with long line ups. Another reason that we are happy to travel off season.

The restaurant was cute and not typical. About 8 light globes all decorated uniquely. One had a Sicilian deck of card that Wendy bought earlier this week. No Hearth, Spade, Club and Diamond, Instead it is Coins, Swords, Juggling Clubs, and Wine Jugs. The chairs were all painted white with spots of other colours. The benches had cushions of all types, the walls had folk art painting.  They also had English, French along with Italian menus available for us which is not always the case

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We then made another loop around town and headed home.

Nice light reflection on the wet pavers

Square on the side of the Duomo