Sunday. After 40 hours travel from the Samoan Islands in the Pacific, through Brisbane, Bangkok, Rome, to Catania in Sicily, MB arrives mid morning to Ortiga Island, Siracusa. After not seeing Janet for over a month there are great hugs and kisses. It is a beautiful day, no wind, calm blue sea. Off to the rock beach for a swim first up, in water about 21 degrees. After lunch in a nearby cafe, MB rings our architect Gemma Davies and her assistant, Laura,to cong...

Today I head to Fumicino airport to get my connecting flight to Catania 'Fontanarosa', Sicily. I am excited at the prospect of seeing the apartment completed and ready for my first sleep there. I arrive to find not only the taxi driver 'Elisabetta' waiting for me, but also my great friend Lucia. We all chat away in a mix of English and Italian as we pass fields full of oranges and lemons, with Mt. Etna smoking in the distance. There is a sense of coming home a...