I wish I owned a waterproof camera.  Kathryn tried to sell me her's but NOOOOOO!  The rain stopped and the sun was glorious and warm, shining all along our walk this morning so finally I went for a swim.  It took some time to find just the perfect spot.  My personal favorite was already occupied by sun bathers when we walked by so after going further and climbing more stairs..we came to a swim spot that is very far out on the rocks. It seemed all right.  But once I got out there I remembered that the last time I tried this entrance into the sea, the undertow swept me off my feet so fast that I smacked my head on the outcrop of rocks.  The heaving sea and splashing waves in addition to Dennis giving me stink eye convinced me that we should venture further in our search for the right swim spot.

Up and farther we went until we came to the last set of stairs along the path.  You have to climb down these tiny stone steps that are overgrown with trees and plants and covered in pine needles until you reach the churning water.  The steps widen out a bit and the plants cease, enough to sit down in the sun and take off your shoes and socks.  Dennis found me swim shoes and gloves so that I don't slice my skin off on the coral-like rocks that I have to climb over.  Soon I was ready to dive straight into the waves and I swam out far enough to be free of the shoreline.  Because of the tumult above me, the view wasn't too clear once I began to snorkel.. But I am always struck by what you can see by just floating along, just below the waves.  Where I was floating, in about 30 feet or more of water, the rocks below me are mostly pieces of the pathway above that we walk on.  Concrete and rebar that have tumbled into the water and after years and years, have grown enough sea life on them to completely disguise who they once were.  There were schools of fish eating off these "rocks" and if I stayed still enough, the fish would come and investigate me.  Beams of sunlight filtered down through from the surface, playing across my skin and anything else that came by.  It was peaceful and cool in the Mediterranean this morning.

Dennis was digging and exploring a small cave not far from the area where I jumped in.  He is always on the lookout for "artifacts".  He did find some old, rusted pieces of metal and a pretty shard of glass etched with flowers.  Hundreds of years old, no doubt (wink wink)

I wasn't cold exactly but after I spent enough time to fill my ears with water and make my head feel funny, I climbed back out, dried off in the sunlight and we made our climb back up and home.  Its about 15 minutes walk from that spot to our apartment.  All uphill and upstairs.  And from every vantage point, the view gets better and better.

The clouds have since rolled in and blanketed the area, blocking out Mother Sun.  But I had my swim already, so I'm happy. Tomorrow we are off to the open market in Italy