I remember thinking as we got off the bus in Scicli (pronounced shee-klee)……this is going to be an easy town to love.  We are here for the month of July with the specific intention to slow down, reflect upon where we are in our life right now and craft together an idea of how we’d like to live in the retirement (or semi-retirement) phase that we are now facing.

Scicli, via Mormino Penna

Having this as our first view of the town helped cement our decision to find a place in Sicily that offered small town life, had good bus connections to other parts of the island and was near, but not on, the sea.    We hadn’t counted on being bowled over by the beauty of the place and the absolutely compelling warmth and openness of the people who live here.

Our Scicli Neighborhood

This is our street……a two-way street by the way…..with any corner turn requiring a full three-point maneuver.  Not that there’s a lot of traffic, mind you, but when there is I’m not the only one sticking her head out the door to keep an eye on things.  It’s fun.  And it’s also amazing how one’s focus can shift from worrying about money or jobs or kids or just about anything at all to simply enjoying the pleasure of the small things that stack up to form an ordinary day……

Veggie Heaven

like what to have for lunch, for example.   The food here is going to get lots of attention in this blog….for sure I’m going to run out of fancy-food-description-phrases.  This salad, for instance, our first taste of Scicli served under an umbrella in that beautiful main piazza pictured above, was so simple, so satisfying….each ingredient is local, full of flavor, carries its own weight in the mix…..we’re swooning and we’ve only been here for a couple of hours.

Nightfall at Home, Scicli

By the time evening rolled around, we had taken a walk around the center of town, gathered a few grocery staples, unpacked and very, very happily turned in for the night.