Day 124: Saturday 14th October 2017 San Remo

What an amazing day. We woke to see San Remo in a completely different light. There was a hustle and bustle about the place and our new French neighbours informed us there was a huge market in the town.

We started off by going to see the coastguard to check in, on the way walking past the fish market which Esmé detested as she hates strong smells! AJ meanwhile was fascinated to see a swordfish in real life, all be it a dead one destined for somebody's plate!

The coastguards were rather official looking gentlemen with the younger ones dressed up in what looked like a traditional sailors uniform with the huge collar. After much pointing and me producing all documents he may possibly require so he could take his choice, our names were finally in his big book (after a boat called Captain Hook) and we were free to carry on our morning.






We walked up into the town, passing the castle which had some huge iron chairs outside which the kids were fascinated by.

After a little wandering around we found the market which sold pretty much everything you could want. The displays of vegetables were like nothing I have ever seen in the UK.

AJ had a bit of a meltdown when I dragged him into a very busy covered area of the market which was home to most of the food stalls. I did a deal with him that if he stopped complaining and tried to enjoy it for 10 minutes he could go back to the boat with Patrick. (I figured 10 minutes was about as long as Patrick could bear in there anyway!)

In the end he had a great time with many stall holders loving both our children. They were amazed at all the different kinds of pasta and we bought some interesting looking packets to take back to the boat.

We then spotted a delicatessen and wandered over for a look. I saw what looked like fresh hummus but turned out to be goats cheese. The stall holder took a real shine to AJ and kept feeding him titbits to try. In the end we bought the goats cheese and some excellent cured ham for not a lot of money. I remember my friend Kas saying that the Italians love children and we have really experienced that even on day 1. Patrick did in the end take AJ back early leaving Esmé and I to mooch about the market a little longer. We took a different way back and spotted a small restaurant down a cobbled back street that Esmé fancied for her delayed birthday meal out.

Back on the boat there was time for to chill out in front of electronics for the kids and planning time for Patrick and I. The pressure is on as Gaeta now seem to want us to commit if we want to stay there for winter so we need to quickly make a decision on if we think we can make Ragusa. The kids seem reasonably comfortable with four days sailing then one days rest if it means they can re-join their Aussie friends in Ragusa so on balance we think we will make it if the weather holds. We will still try to keep the Gaeta option open as long as possible but I think the plan really is to make it to Sicily.

After a fine lunch made up from our morning's purchases we went for another walk to try to find a beach. We wandered east towards the huge marina housing mega-yachts, enjoying the view.

After a while we came to a small playground in the shade and took some time out to shelter from the sun which was pretty hot considering it's October!

I then went shopping to pick up some bits from the supermarket while Patrick took the kids to the beach. I met our French neighbours again in there and enjoyed chatting to them about this cruising area.

Once back at the boat we packed all the food away and then had a little rest before heading out once more. This time to the restaurant via the small fairground where the kids had a great time!

Next onto the restaurant where the owner loved our kids and was overjoyed that Esmé had decided to return after chatting with him earlier in the day. We had a huge meal for 50 Euros, but more importantly it was perfect for Esmé who often doesn't each much when we eat out but just has little bits of our plate. She managed to taste pasta, pizza and have a mountain of bread before ice cream for desert.

On the way back the kids were jealous when a drunken lady was being hoisted onto the giant chairs by her partner and wanted to try it too, so we indulged them and they had great fun on the chair!

Finally we arrived back at Laurin at the same time as the French guys next door who wished us well on our travels and gave us some fish that they had caught,  preserved and put in a jar. We look forward to trying it!