After a slow morning at the villa, sketching in the sunshine, we drove to Marsala to the Florio family winery, where we discovered that the legendary dessert wine comes in many other guises too. Besides wine, Florio’s stylish shop also sells ceramics, preserves, books, bags and scarves. Needless to say, we lightened their display considerably.

Further up the road, we came to the salt pans; a tranquil and other-worldly setting with views across the flats to the Egadi islands beyond. A beautifully-situated cafe/bar made an ideal spot for some early evening sketching and as the sun set and we struggled with the  angles of the sails on a nearby windmill, we were fortified by enough

complimentary snacks to keep us going until supper. Supper was at a Ristorante Annaba in the bewidering back streets of Castelvetrano; a clean, bright and unpretentious restaurant which specialises in couscous with gamberi and scampi – a Tunisian seafood speciality that’s perfectly at home, just across the water here in Sicily. Back at the villa, fragrant Zibbibo or icy Limoncello paired with the remains of Loredana’s banana and chocolate cake, rounded off the day nicely.