Market Day

As you travel around south-eastern Sicily you can see fields of plastic, which from a distance you could easily mistake for water. Once you get closer you find that it is a mass of greenhouses. Around Ragusa there are approximately 4,000 hectares of these “Mediterranean greenhouses” which are widely used for food and ornamental crops.

The greenhouses, along with the mild temperatures here in winter, enable cultivation of high-quality produce all-year round.

We have been really lucky throughout the winter to be able to get good fruit and vegetables. Each of the towns in the area hold a market on different days of the week so the fresh produce is readily available every day at very competitive prices. The markets are all really popular with locals as well as tourists.

Our market here in Marina di Ragusa is held on a Tuesday. It is a really nice walk to get there along the beach and past houses with bougainvillea blooming.

This market is quite small in comparison to some of the others. You can’t really go with a shopping list as each week the fresh produce is different depending on what is in season, but there is always a good selection.

This week I went on a girls shopping trip to the Wednesday market in Ragusa. It was enormous, selling everything you can think of, every type of food, fabrics, clothes (ranging from €1 upwards), underwear, accessories, household items etc.

We were there for nearly 3 hours and only looked around about a quarter of it before they started packing away!

Many of our friends have now left the marina but social events have been continuing for those of us still here. Last weekend we had a big celebration with a friends boat renaming ceremony and bbq on the pontoon. Great fun with food, drinks and dancing.

We have also been continuing with boat jobs, the life raft and frame have now been fitted.

Our new dinghy arrived so we inflated it to check it was all ok. We have always been happy with ‘Fred’ our current dinghy, it is light weight and easy to handle. However, last summer we upgraded our outboard engine ‘Ed’, this proved to be too heavy and powerful for ’Fred’ and so our reason to purchase ’Fred II’.

We will have a naming ceremony when she is eventually launched (Any excuse for a celebration!!)