Well the Enoteca is finally just about nearly almost ready to open at last.

The 1970 Vespa (1 careful owner and 4000 miles from new) has been hoisted up to sit above the bar and the initial selection of 45’s for the jukebox has been whittled from 4000 to 80. When we had coffee bars in the 60’s the juke geezer came around once every 2 weeks and replaced 4 singles on the box, if I was moping around he would give them to me so I started collecting records at an early age. Horrifyingly, besides rough treatment on the Dansette, I used ‘em as Frisbees on the playing fields at school or the fern filled valley by Farsley Celtic Football ground where we would run off with any ball kicked over the corrugated iron perimeter on match days.

I have decided that I too will change 4 singles every fortnight to keep things fresh albeit in an old fashioned kinda way. The current crop is mostly 60’s vinyl with a smattering of 50’s and 70’s and 2 modern pressings – a limited Tom Waits 45 from his stunning new triple album, Orphans, and a reggae version of the White Stripes ‘7 Nation Army’ by the Dynamics

Anyone wanting to play a tune should get a 2 bob coin from the bar which is good for 2 plays but choosing from the splendid choice of Memphis soul, rhythm and blues, jazz, reggae, rockabilly and Italian and 60’s pop will be a hard task indeedy.
Local artist Lori Rebequ is the Artist in Residence and her work will be on display in the Enoteca throughout the year. The first canvasses I saw of Lori’s work reminded me very much of landscapes from the Veneto like Venice under mist or the Po Delta in autumn but the inspiration for them apparently came from Aborigines and their culture. Oops! The important thing is they are great to look at, Italy, Oz, what’s the difference anyway. If you are in Salvo’s for lunch or dinner and would like to see the art ask one of the staff who will happily point you in the right direction.

So, what is an Enoteca I hear you ask?
The word derives from Enologia, the study of wine, so it’s a place where you can sip, sup, sniff and snort a selection of wines and prosecco with some delicious spuntini (snacks created to complement the art of enjoying a drink which can only be a good thing.).
The place is named after me Mam (Nunzia) and the pic of her on a Vespa in the 50’s takes pride of place above the jukebox.

We should be up and running in a week or so.

After noticing the confusion on the faces of some British holidaymakers visiting the lido and not understanding the crack I was reminded of my first time on the beach. I was shown to a parasol on the first day not realising it was mine exclusively for the week. The following day I sat under a parasol roughly in the same area as the day before, fell asleep and was rudely awakened by a little old lady ranting at me as if I had fell asleep on her sun lounger while she was still on it herself! Blimmin’ eck she nearly had a thrombie right in front of my bleary eyes. Moral of story – don’t think you can plonk yourself down under any empty parasol, someone may have rented it for the summer. I wrote this little info sheet for the lovely Francesca at the hotel to try and enlighten the unenlightened so they can become er…… enlightened and suntanned at the same time.


Beach Life, Pescara Style

The Lido’s that line the City coastline are one of Pescara’s major attractions, with holidaymakers returning year after year to their favourites, enjoying soft sands and the calm warm sea.

The Lido’s are privately owned, paying rent to the council. Prices for parasol and loungers are set every year by a Professional Trade Association and are available to view at most of the beaches. The recommended prices for 2007, for example, range from 14 euros daily (low season) to include 1 parasol and 2 deckchairs to 1500 euros (for the entire season) for a large Hawaiian palm parasol , complete with beach safe, on the waters edge! Many of these are booked up to a year in advance.
These prices include use of the Lido’s facilities. There is a free public beach without facilities 20 minutes walk away and many people buy parasols etc from the supermarkets and make use of this beach.

The Hotel Bellariva has negotiated a special price for residents who wish to use La Capponcina, expertly run by Paolo and his family, which is situated just across the road from the hotel.

The excellent price of 7 euros a day includes 1 parasol and 2 deck chairs as well as facilities such as hot and cold showers, kid’s playground, volleyball and beach football courts, a picnic garden area and changing facilities. Lifeguards are on duty until mid September and the Capponcina Beach Boys clean the beaches daily and are always on hand to blow up inflatables or fetch an extra lounger.
The food at La Capponcina is a big attraction, with customers from other Lidos arriving for lunch as well. It has a snack bar serving freshly baked flatbreads and pizza all day and a lunchtime self service restaurant which has a magnificent selection of hot and cold seafood, meats, pasta, vegetables, seasonal fruits and salads as well as chilled local wine from the barrel. Check out the Daily Menu by the entrance or ask the affable owner Paolo who is always on hand to offer friendly advice if needed.
There is no need to find a restaurant at lunchtime as the food is so good here! There is also a fully stocked bar serving cold drinks, ice cream, coffee, aperitifs and sorbets.

The weekends are particularly lively with Italian families flocking to the beaches to meet, stroll along the breakwater, sunbathe, play, flirt, eat and have a good time Pescara style!

If you would like to reserve a parasol, the Bellariva will issue a Beach Voucher which you then give to a member of staff at La Capponcina, they will prepare your parasol for you with 2 deckchairs per voucher.
This parasol and the deckchairs are exclusively yours for the duration of your stay. The Lido is locked at night and many families leave the kids beach playthings by their parasols for the following day.

On one of my visits to Pescara last year my good friend Stefano showed me the Trabocchi by the port on a late muggy evening after dinner stroll.
The Trabocchi, I learned, are fragile looking fishing huts on stilts that stand in the sea and are reached by precarious rope and wood footbridges.

These insectoid structures, like a cross between a mutant daddy longlegs built from aged acacia wood and a rejected extra from the first Star Wars movie look stunning as the sun sets, leaving their skeletal silhouettes framed against the languid backdrop of sea and fertile mountainside.

After a little research I discovered that Slow Food Abruzzo organise an event in summer to showcase the ancient culinary traditions from the coastal region they call La Costa dei Trabocchi.This is the area south of Pescara, running down the coast past Fossaceisa and ending at, spookily enough, San Salvo.

Cala Lenta, as the 3 day festival is called, is based around ‘Pescaturismo or Blue Tourism’ with tasting menus, dinners on the Trabocchi themselves and early morning trips with the fishermen, learning about the types of fish, recipes, mythology and fascinating antique traditions of a noble ‘mestiere’. The Slow Food ‘Laboratories of Taste’ are held around the region where highly regarded chefs hold workshops showing the preparation of local dishes and ingredients.
I have touched on the Slow Food movement in earlier blogs and you can google it for more info.

All the events are well frequented and you must book and pay in advance to be sure of a place. 10 of us had booked and were instructed, by email, to meet someone at a junction on the A14. Mmmm, an interesting way to start a dinner evening.

We were met by our contact and driven to a dirt track, where we walked over the old railway track, to the sea and the rickety bridge that led 50 or so yards out to ‘our’ Trabocco. The trestle tables were set out in the central space of the open sided structure with ropes, capstans and netting strung around the place and we were offered some freshly fished bits, deep fried and wrapped in paper while we tried to find space on the already packed tables.

The young waitress told me it was her uncles Trabocco, the rest of the womenfolk were in the tiny kitchen preparing a meal of fish caught that day including the main course of ‘Brodetto di pesce alla Vastese. Traditionally made with mixed fish (about 10 types in ours), a tomato or two, sea water, olive oil, garlic and chilli peppers; it sums up the soul and essence of the Trabocchi and the Coast itself. Harmony, knowledge, sea, earth, give and take, all in a rough earthenware pot brought sizzling and bubbling to the table for all to share. Sometimes life is complicated; sometimes it’s simple, harmonious and very beautiful.

The acacia wood used in the Trabocco construction is aged first as they have to last longer than today’s products which are constructed to give up the ghost 12 days after expiration of guarantee, ours was 130 years old and going strong.

After dinner, the giant net which was as big as a house was hoisted out of the sea where it had been laying on the sea bed. Using a complex array of pulleys and ropes and 2 strong young people with long sticks to turn the capstan, it rose creaking and dripping, revealing its shocked flapping contents.
As it rises all the fish roll into the centre where another mini holding type net is used, with the help of more sticks and ropes to scoop them and swing ‘em aboard. The catch at this time of day and year, was a paltry couple of keys of anchovies, looking like highly polished living silver in the moonlight (I was drunk) but I was told in season the nets are lowered and raised every 15 minutes or so.

In the old days there would be big fish like tuna and palombo netted but now it is a struggle to make a living using these old methods, sympathetic to the environment it lives in.
With the advent of modern methods raping and pillaging the sea, these evenings full of interested people (some had made a 200 km round trip for dinner and to learn) are important to keep these traditions and buildings alive.
Seeing a trabocco is a bit like seeing Sophia Loren for the first time, burnt in your memory forever, you will never forget it.

The dinner was 45 euro per person, all inclusive. It was the opposite of a sophisticated affair with simply cooked, freshly caught fish, local single varietals of dark green olive oil (mind blowing) from Ursini, Giuseppe Ursini was eating there along with suppliers of other artisan products we tasted. The wines - Aliano, Trebbiano and Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Cerasuolo were from Colle Moro, 20 km away; they are happy to prearrange visits to the vineyard.
Of course eating and drinking in this simple free and easy manner makes for a fabulous evening and by the end everyone is leaning against the rail enjoying the sea breeze, the view, the after dinner drinks and the company.
Where I come from ‘all you can eat’ means cheap, nutrition free filler most of the time and unlimited drink is downright dangerous so I found this to be one of those particularly enchanting experiences.

MENU
Fried blue fish in paper
Cold mackerel, fresh chillis, country bread
Lightly soused anchovies
Anchovy and potato pie ,
Baked mantis shrimp
Stewed octopus
Stuffed mussels
Pasta squares (maltagliati) with mussels and baby squid in broth
Baked mackerel with pots and green peppers
Fish stew ‘alla Vastese’
Cakes and sweetmeats
fruit
Ratafia liquer
Amaro

Some sites of interest
www.slowfood.com
www.calalenta.com
www.collemoro.it
www.enotecaregionale.abruzzo.it
www.traboccopuntotufano.it

Sunday morning beach life.
.
La Capponcina
Viale della Riviera
Pescara


It's gonna be a hot one and the giant palm brolleys close to the water’s edge command eye popping prices but are fully booked anyway.

The weekenders arrive early, getting the most from their day.

The coconut sellers sing their coconut selling song and blow their coconut selling whistles over the hubbub of families getting their ship together and the sound of Europop at the waters edge, there’s a fitness class in the sea at the lido next door. All the splashing about and shiny jewelry reminds me of La Mattanza in Sicily where the glittering tuna are lured into shallow water, trapped and clubbed to death by the fishermen. Nice.
A beauty treatment and massage parlour with pretty girls has set up by the Capponcina beach boys hut. Excellent eye candy for the midmorning ‘snack’. Sweet but sugar free.

African Sellers are fully robed and hatted, laden down with small corner shops around their necks. Mustafa tries it on and encourages me to buy something as usual; sometimes I buy him a coffee if he’s around at espresso time.

Everybodys brown
Skinny kids are whip thin
Pretty girls and belly ring
Yummy Mums and beach bling.
Rayban dads and sly grin
Mamma mia!
........G string
I think I need a cold swim
Breakwater strolls are so 'in'
The beach passegiata in full swing.