It's dawned on me a few times since I've been here that when my father decided to purchase our condo, he could stand on the patio and look in one direction and see his brother's balcony and look in the other direction and see his sister's balcony. The brothers have passed away and the sister is living in a rest home. One of the families has since sold their place and moved on from Campomarino Lido vacations, and the other family is in the early stages of building their life several hours north of here. But I still enjoying traveling to this little coastal outpost surrounded by rural farmland Italy.
On Saturday, I went into Termoli in the morning. It might sound crazy, but I keep thinking of things I need and head there to get them. I criss-crossed the old city, heading to the castle of Federico II, seeing what time the stores I needed to visit opened. I was looking for a birthday gift, a cover for the AC unit outside, flour, and a new tile piece to replace the one that fell off of my garage a couple of months ago. Very random things, and they were in different parts of the city. So I started walking early, and did it often that day. By lunch time, I'd logged close to 18,000 steps.
After spending a few hours resting on the beach, I went to the birthday party for my cousin Mario's daughter. She's 4 now and had a great party here in town. I got to see Mario and his wife Cassandra, plus both kids and his mother, Dorette. It was a really nice evening and a great celebration of Arianna. By the end of the day I was sitting at more than 27,000 steps.
On Sunday, my cousin Vincenzo, his wife Mariella and their daughter Mila came for a visit. We went out into Campomarino for lunch, which I haven't done in years. There aren't a lot of restaurants to choose from during the afternoon hours, but what we have are good. We settled on a beach club called the Conchiglia Azzuro (Blue Clamshell in translation). I ate there a couple of times in 2015, and it was still very clean and the food was delicious. I really enjoyed getting to see them again and spend some time with them.
Project wise in the house, the electrician work is done for this year, barring anything unforeseen. The plumbing issue is sort of working itself out, but the plumber is coming tonight to see the job. About to head to the beach for the afternoon.
