It's possible we drank a little too much wine last night. Anyway this morning is warm and sunny and we're in no mood to hurry. We decide to stay and visit the town and maybe find somewhere nice for lunch.
After the bread lady's van has been Ali rinses out some smalls and tee shirts to leave hanging in the sun then we use the map Toni gave us for the 10 minute walk to town. Marina di Ragusa is a typical seaside resort with lots of villas and apartments and in contrast with lots of Sicily is is spotlessly clean and most of the pavements are ramped. We make our way to the waterfront where there is a smooth, attractive promenade lined with palms. A few people are sunbathing on the beach and a couple yachts sail out of the marina. We wander to the marina itself where the yachts are tied up. It's a lovely setting; across the harbour are white houses with terracotta rooves, while around the basin is a selection of modern bars and nautical shops and flower troughs. Suddenly we are literally shaken by two thundering booms and it takes a long moment to work put it is the sonic booms of a fighter jet which is making curved contrails above us.
As we return to town lunch time beckons. The first two open restaurants are crepes and pizzas but then we find The Imperial, with a more extensive Italian menu. While we're reading the menu the waiter comes with a platter of 'catch of the day'. Dorade [bream], sole, red snapper, all beautifully fresh, he runs through the options for cooking. We choose the dorade which will be cooked with herbs and tomatoes, to share. For starters Ali has seafood salad [cuttle, baby octopus, mussels, prawns and squid], Nick has aubergines and tomatoes with grilled parmeggiano.
Then our dorade arrives and after showing us the entire fish the waitress carefully eases the chunky fillets away from the bones before setting it on our table. The meaty fish with herbs, roasted tomatoes and olive oil is delicious, especially eaten outdoors in the sunshine with a glass of white wine. We finish off with lemon sorbet, delightfully cold, until the fifth or sixth spoonful sends shooting pains up through the roofs of our mouths remindng us to slow down.
Afterwards we sit watching the perfect blue sea for a while then wander to the other end of the seafront. The temperature is a pleasant 23C with cool sea breeze. Late afternoon we wander back, via Spar for milk and eggs, and enjoy the early evening sitting outside.