The original of this content was on a YouTube video, but as I want to reach larger crowds, I also want to serve the reading population. So I have written this blog article based on my YouTube video.
It is the Mediterranean and behind the sea is Africa
Marina Di Ragusa, arrival at the Sea
And then there it was, the sea.
It's like I stepped into heaven. We arrived to Marina Di Ragusa by bus and walked maybe three minutes from the bus stop towards the beachfront, and suddenly the beach opened in front of us like it had been waiting there all our lives. The ridiculously blue water looked unbelievable!
I just wanted to change into my swimsuit and run into the sea (because of course that is what happened... maybe), but with all our luggage, I just stood there staring like an idiot and smiling. It was absolutely gorgeous. We had been living in Ragusa almost for a year and a half at that point, and we had not seen this beach before, which felt almost criminal. People were still swimming even though it was October, and the whole place had that certain lazy, late‑season vibe. And it was still so hot (for a Nordic person, everything above 20 is hot)!
I found a pink throne for my royal butt
The main Lungomare of Marina di Ragusa
Our Airbnb in Santa Barbara
We stayed in an Airbnb in the area of Santa Barbara. It looks like its quite new residential zone a little bit off from the centre of Marina di Ragusa. Everything around looked very freshly built and quite obviously designed with short‑term holiday rentals in mind.
We had booked through Booking.com instead of Airbnb, mostly because I’d noticed that many Airbnb flats had become weirdly expensive. Sometimes a basic one‑bedroom apartment costs more than a decent four‑star hotel room, which just feels stupid, so I went with Booking instead. I was already at “genius” level there, which meant a small discount and a completely unnecessary feeling of satisfaction.
Blonde Barbara goes to Santa Barbara
Inside the Apartment
The apartment itself was your standard accommodation: clean, bright, very neutral, and aggressively non‑personal. Inside there was a TV, a small sofa, a dining table. Pretty standard, everthing that you can find in hotels from Tenerife to Tallinn.
We had bought some food to cook, and then when I realised I did not read the listing properly. There was no oven. There were cooking plates and a water kettle. So no baking, just boiling and frying. No pots, just a frying pan! The fridge was big and new, and there was a proper washing machine, which is always needed when away from home and getting sweaty from all the wandering around. We didn’t find any washing liquid or powder, so I still don’t know if we were supposed to bring our own or if some previous guest had stolen it.
The bathroom was very nice, complete with full Italian setup: toilet, bidet (I love bidets!), and a small boiler for hot water. The boiler was bigger than what we were used to, it was maybe 30 or 40 litres, and after living with a tiny 20‑litre one that runs out in 10 minutes, this felt luxurious!
The African boy I married
First evening
When we arrived to our accommodation, I was pretty worn out. It was a long walk with bags and too much sun. The moment we got in, I spread my luggage all over the bed: clothes, underwear, camera gear, random cables. There was a double bed and an extra bed, and of course I managed to occupy both with my things. Husband kindly cleared the bed for me when I took out the camera and told him I was going to film. He wanted to hide my underwear from the camera! But I filmed them anyway, hahaha!
One thing that impressed me was the door locking system. To enter the apartment, we had to type a code at the door, like in a spy movie. I had never seen such a modern system in a random holiday flat.
Not far from where we stayed was the House of Montalbano, (it is in Punta Secca) from the Italian TV series. This is one of the major tourist attractions to check out. We actually went there the next day, and that is viewable in the next video. (and blog article).
On our first night in Marina Di Ragusa, we just went for a walk to see the surroundings and to find something to eat. Then we just came back to our accommodation to sit, drink, and finally get into the holiday mood. It was our first real break since moving to Italy, after what felt like one struggle after another. At that point, we were almost in the clear, with just a few loose ends to tie up and no money going to lawyers anymore.
On the evening walk
When walking, we ended up in another nearby area, I think it was called Casuzze or something similar. The atmosphere in this neighbourhood was completely different from Ragusa. The houses were low, wide, and simple, and the whole place felt strangely open and a bit empty in a way that made me think of Africa.
I said it looked a bit African to me, but the African boy I was with did not agree at all! Fair enough. 😅 Scooters were everywhere, buzzing around like large mosquitoes, and came across a pizzeria. They seem to rent bikes too, which made sense because the area is perfect for slow cycling up and down the lungomare!
Some of the houses looked abandoned, or at least half‑asleep. All the blinds were closed. I kept wondering if anyone actually lived there. The building styles were all over the place. In Ragusa, you have those old stone houses from the 1600s and 1700s with damp walls and narrow alleys (because of course, it is a baroque town), but here the architecture felt warmer and more open, kind of colonial like something from an old American film where they build small houses with big verandas and lots of sun. But I guess the style is Arabic, if you should name something. Arabic, Greek and North African.
The sea again
That little area of Casuzze also has its own beach. And yes, I was looking at the sea in between the buildings! A stretch of sand, rolling waves, and me thinking to myself again that why don’t I live here? There was even a shower right on the beach, which always feels like a big relief when you’re salty.
For some reason, I kept postponing the actual swimming (It only happened on day three). I told myself that if I didn’t go into the water the next day, I might as well go back home and be angry at myself. In the end, of course, I did swim, because how could I not.
YouTube Link
My YouTube video on the topic can be found here.
We did not swim here
Thank you for reading! There will be parts 2 and 3 as well!
