Good day fellow Janathoners and others, one and all. What a difference a nights sleep makes! No shaking, rattling and rolling last night ..... blissful peace and quiet. Almost quiet, it is still extremely windy here in Puglia, Southern Italy almost on the Med .... you would think it would be warmer. Not this year. So almost quiet, I could hear the roaring of the sea as I tucked myself up in my cosy warm bed last night. A lovely sound to go to sleep by.
Despite a few waking moments, normal for me, I woke up feeling refreshed. Armed with a cup of tea I ventured onto Facebook and spent some time reading the posts and blogs of all my fellow Janathoners. Some of you are extremely energetic, some struggling along down there with me. Never mind you are all committed to Janathon 2015. You got me motivated and enthusiastic for the day.
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| Will the wind ever let up? |
After a late breakfast I headed out for a walk, hoping to up the pace a bit. I certainly did that to start with. As soon as I hit the beach road the wind had me .... tail winds chasing me along, I even managed a little jogging. A different story on the return lap, fighting head winds all the way, any time benefit soon got whittled away as I struggled on. The wind was freezing, well it felt that way to me, a UK ex-pat who has definitely become acclimatised to sunny southern climes. It's hard to believe that in, probably, less than four months time we will be sunning ourselves on the beach and paddling, if not swimming, in the Adriatic.
My route today took me along the Adriatic, inland a fraction and then back through the village of Lendinuso.
Not as far or as fast as I would have liked .... tomorrow! Squats count so far today, 20, it will be more before the end of the day.
Today is a public holiday in Italy, Befana. In Italian folklore Befana is an old woman who delivers gifts to children throughout Italy on the night of January 5) in a similar way to Father Christmas on Christmas Eve. In times gone by Befana was far more important than Christmas Eve and children would get their presents for Befana. Now commercialism having reached Italy, even Puglia which often appears 50 years behind the north of Italy, both are celebrated with the children getting presents on both days. Wise parents simply spread the same amount of presents out between the two holidays.
Being retired public holidays are not of huge significance to us. Especially now the major shopping centres now open on Sundays and many of the public holidays. When we arrived in Puglia in December 2005 there was no Sunday shopping and nothing was open on a public holiday. A definite change, but is it for the better? What do you think?
The only real significance of a public holiday for me is that electricity rates are cheaper. Utility costs make a major dent in the budget so public holiday days and weekends become the time to run the dishwasher, the washing machine and do other power hungry chores.
But for now, the fire is lit, it's warm and cosy in the living room ... I've done my Italian lesson for the today. Time for a hot soak in the tub, after another 30 squats, and to settle down by the fire working on the patchwork bed cover.
Buona Befana!
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