Punta Secca

We've abandoned our original plans for day trips from Ragusa as the train and bus connection times just don't quite come together (and I don't have the nerve to drive!).  Instead, today we took the bus to Punta Secca, a small fishing, beach village about 30 kms from Ragusa, situated on the Mediterranean Sea.

Now, if you're a fan of the Inspector Montalbano television series (based on the books by Andrea Camilleri), this village is where the Inspector's actual house is located.  Much of the television series is filmed in and around Ragusa, and you can even take a Montalbano tour to visit various filming locations.  Apparently in the height of the tourist season, the house, which offers bed and breakfast accommodation, draws crowds of fans just wanting to stay, or at least snap a pic of the house!  We are not familiar with Inspector Montalbano at all...so we just went for the sea!

Punta Secca has a sandy beach stretching the length of the village and as far as the eye can see.  The water is perfectly clear and almost warm and, now that the main tourist season is over, the beach is quiet and we swam and sunned and swam some more.

We were a bit puzzled about where the return bus would stop, as we were dropped off at the side of the road, without any obvious marking as a bus stop.  Most of the stops along the route were not formal bus stops, which fits beautifully with the Sicilian practice of giving a nod to practicalities - eg a timetable and destination towns - but no route maps, no marked stops, and a very loose interpretation of the timetable!  We wandered for a bit, looking for something resembling a bus stop, but no luck.  Back in the village we went to a small pizzeria and asked the owner if she could direct us to the bus stop...un momento, she said, and called out to someone...a waitress appeared and listened to my request - me adding in some unskilled Italian in an effort to aid understanding...un momento, she said, and called out to someone...and young, smiling Mahmoud appeared!  As it turned out, Mahmoud is from Sierra Leone, has been in Sicily six years, and is a chef at the pizzeria in tiny Punta Secca!  It's a good life by the sea, he said.  He speaks Italian, French, English and, he explained, if tourists get in trouble with the police, he is called in to translate!  Mahmoud walked us to the bus stop...which is not a marked bus stop, but it is where the bus stops!  We were so grateful, and it was a pleasure to meet him.

I might visit the local bookshop tonight to pick up one of the Montalbano series...