Sicily.

On Tuesday I travel to stay with friends in Sicily. The place is high up some 3,000 feet just bellow the snow line. The temperature presently a comfortable 19-21c - so should be fun and relaxing. I have known my friend since March 1968 when we met in West Hampstead. She was then a very beautiful (and still is) 18 year old with a delightful son. Next weekend with her husband we plan to go to Syracuse for two days site seeing - so on my return you can look forward to hearing all about my holiday. Getting away is such a lovely thing to do, especially with such generous friends who live in a fantastic place with panoramic views across the valley. Sunset can be truly breathtaking as the light catches the gloss of the Autumn olive trees in the drowning sun. They are both excellent cooks so lots of fine dining and of course good vino.
Friendship is such an extraordinary thing. To define it is almost impossible as we share the inevitable vicissitudes of life and unlike family we are able to chose our friendships. And as Shakespeare said in Hamlet 'the friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel'. Amen to that.