Day 123 - Family Travel Reality: Fights, Coastal Adventures and a Games Night in Southern Italy

Emmett and I were up early again. I think I was up around 5 and he was up around 6. It was actually a nice start to the day. I got some quiet time to do a bit of research for the trip before anyone else was awake, which I’ve been enjoying lately.

Emmett and I have fallen into a bit of a routine. I make the coffees and clean up the kitchen while he hangs around and we just chat. It’s a good little pocket of time together before the day gets going.

Kia came down not long after. She’s been getting into a rhythm of waking up and doing a meditation most mornings, which has been really good for her. Maddie, on the other hand, has been enjoying some solid sleep-ins.

It was a bit rainy early, so there was no rush to get out for a run. We all got stuck into breakfast instead, which pretty much ruled out running for the morning. Eventually the sun came out and it turned into a really nice day. No wind, clear skies, and it honestly would have been perfect swimming weather.

The plan was to head out and explore a few nearby towns and beaches to see if we could find some cleaner spots. On the way, we wanted to stop and show Kia the cliffs and the grotto since she hadn’t seen them yet.

Before we even got out the door though, Emmett and Maddie had a full-blown argument over a two-cent coin. Maddie said it was originally hers from back home in Brisbane. Emmett had found it and decided it was his, and had been holding onto it ever since. Maddie took it back and that set him off. It turned into a proper blow-up over two cents.

It all escalated pretty quickly, so we made the call to get everyone out of the house and into the car. Fresh air and a change of scenery felt like the right move.

We drove out to the cliffs and the grotto, and after a bit of time exploring, everyone settled down again. It actually would have been a great day to jump into the water there, but in the rush to leave we forgot our swimming shoes. You need them because of the rocks, and none of us were too keen on cutting our feet up.

Emmett was pretty disappointed because he really wanted to swim, but we talked it through and agreed we’d come back another day. In the end, he was okay with that.

From there, we drove up the coastline to Otranto. It was even quieter than San Foca, which surprised us. San Foca at least has a bit going on, but Otranto felt completely shut down. Nothing open, barely anyone around, almost like a ghost town.

We did a bit of a loop and stopped at a beach on the way back that was actually really clean. Big open stretch of sand and a much nicer feel than what we’d seen the past few days. It would have been a great spot for a swim, but by then the wind had picked up and it was pretty exposed, so it felt too cold to bother.

We headed back into town and by this stage it was around 3 or 4 in the afternoon. Kia and I tried to sit down and have another chat about what’s next after Italy. We still haven’t fully figured it out, and these conversations seem to keep evolving. We said we’d have a proper chat later that night when things were quieter.

Since Maddie had organised movie night the night before, it was Emmett’s turn and he chose a games night.

We had an early dinner, which Maddie took full control of. She cooked chicken and salad, made guacamole, and even did full table service. It was actually a really good meal and she was pretty proud of herself.

After dinner, we went straight into games night. First up was hide and seek tiggy outside in the little piazza in front of our place. It had started drizzling again, but it didn’t matter. It was still heaps of fun running around.

After that, we played Uno Flip, which turned into a long game but a good one. Emmett ended up winning, which he was pretty happy about.

We got the kids into bed and then Kia and I stayed up until about 11 talking through everything. Travel plans, ideas, what we want the next stretch to look like. We were both pretty tired, but we landed on a plan and felt good about it in the moment.

We’ll see how it holds up.