Shout out to Licata

This should have been posted around November 13, 2023. Please see my recent Happy New Year post to explain the delay.

We returned to Licata, Sicily many weeks ago to dock Sabática for the winter, and we easily settled back into familiar routines – visiting the marina office; exercising (kayaking, walking); socializing (happy hours, BBQs); shopping (at the great supermarket on our doorstep, the marina chandlery); and using the land-based bathrooms. I must give a shout out to Licata, both the city itself as well as our new winter boating community. 

First, the city… Early on, we took a stroll through Licata’s old town area to see if anything was new or had changed. We were very pleasantly surprised to see how much cleaner it was compared to last year. The streets and sidewalks were largely free of trash, many public trash cans had been installed, the sidewalk of one of the main streets had been painted with hearts, and there was a large, new “I heart Licata” sign that had been installed outside the city hall. We learned that there was a new mayor in town who seems to be working on a town pride effort, and it really showed. Yay! We saw familiar establishments and noted some new ones. We attended a lively Oktoberfest, with boaters and locals alike. Licata just seemed livelier, maybe because time has marched even further past the Covid pandemic. In any case, it’s all been great to see. We recognized (and were recognized!) by a few familiar local faces in town. We feel somewhat local. Need a hair salon? I got a guy. Need a beauty salon? I got a gal. Need a hardware store? We’ve got a place. 😉

Then, on to our new boating community… What a wonderful feeling it was to pull into the same pontoon as we were on last year and have many neighbors we knew. One even came out to help us secure lines to the dock. 🙂 It was so fun to catch up with friends from last winter and learn of everyone’s summer adventures. We had people over for dinners and were invited to friends’ boats for dinners in exchange. At the weekly happy hours and BBQs, we met boaters new to Licata. This year, the largest contingent seems to be from Germany, then France. There is then a sprinkling of people from all over – Scandinavian countries, Switzerland, Ireland, the US, etc. All very friendly, and we’re looking forward to getting to know them. Each year, activities get started based on the interests of the resident boaters, and so far we have yoga, pilates, Poi dancing, and knitting. We’ll see what else gets started. I told Conor he should start up some Irish dancing. 😉

Next, we had some more friends from the US come for a visit. Of course we did! 🙂 We had fun introducing Giovanna and Javier to some boaters at a happy hour, showing them around town and to the beach, as well as taking them to “our” pizzeria. We had yet to visit Sardasalata, and we wanted them to get to meet the friendly restaurant manager, our buddy Francesco. When we arrived, there was a new host who looked like the owner. He didn’t know us at all and told us they were completely booked for the night. Well, he could offer us a tiny table in an odd space away from the main restaurant. Conor happened to see one of the cooks we knew and waved. When Conor asked if Francesco was there, the cook said to wait just a minute. Sure enough, Francesco showed up and gave us huge hugs and welcomes. He chatted to the host for a minute then proceeded to show us to our typical table. Giovanna and Javier were quite impressed. Everyone should have a Francesco. 😉

We had another fun experience when walking up and over the hill to see the beautiful Licata cemetery on our way to the beach. We passed by a women in her pickup truck collecting trash on the side of the road because she was fed up with how the locals just tossed and left it there. Conor made a friendly comment and a chat ensued. Klaudia became our new friend and invited us down to her villa for a mid-day drink. We were kind of on a schedule as we had a lot we wanted to do that day, but we looked at each other and felt like “how often do you get this kind of invite?” So, we followed Klaudia to her beautiful villa and she made Aperol spritzes for all of us and told us about herself, her life in Germany, her split time in Licata, and about her many German and Austrian neighbors there. All very interesting. She and I swapped WhatsApp numbers and said we’d meet up again when she returned to Licata in the spring!

As we were packing up ourselves and Sabática in preparation for our winter land travels, there was a pang of bittersweetness. We, of course, are super excited to be traveling to see family and friends in Ireland and the US, but we left with a bit of FOMO, wondering what we might be missing out on in the community while we’re gone. 😉