We pull up to the marina gate, it’s 8pm on Friday night and Justin’s been driving for 2 hours, both kids are asleep.  We are all happy to return to our boat after a week tripping around Sicily.  It’s not that we’ve had a terrible time, quite the opposite.   As the handbrake creaks on, I look down the pontoon towards the masts, it looks desolate in the spotlight but I’m eager to walk down it.  Something amazing happened in the last month. I didn’t notice it happening, but it did and it’s huge: Dizzie feels like home.

A month ago, we went away for the long weekend and I was so looking forward to a flush loo and a loooooong hot daily shower. I thought I’d never want to return to the boat (turns out daily showering is over-rated).  How quickly it changed.

This past week we pretended to be tourists.  We saw ‘the great sights where boom bands were playing’ (from the outside); stayed in the Sicilian capital for new years (celebrating the bells inside a BnB); and had respect for families who travel without a boat.  It was a great trip, and if I was serious about blogging, I’d title this, “The best things to do in Sicily with kids”.  But I’m not.  The best things to do with OUR kids were:

 

 

 

If you love really old stuff, unpretentious people and amazing vista’s – check out Sicily!  I’m just a little in love with her.  But now our trip is over, preschool is back and the task of preparing for summer sailing is still overwhelming.

We hope your holiday period was also full of smiles!

Ps.  My eyesight has vastly improved, hopefully no more trips to Pronto Soccorso!