father's day at the beach

i thought that hopping on a train and going to the beach sounded like a good idea. and since it was father's day in america and i'm an american father, i got to make the decision. brandy didn't even know where we were going.

i think she was pleasantly surprised.

Portonovo, Le March, Italy




This town is far enough from big cities and is so off the beaten path that most tour books don't mention it. It is not on the way anywhere, so you really have to go out of your way. Those who do are rewarded greatly. The water is crystal clear and the landscape is like the chalky limestone hills of Austin, Texas cut abruptly by the Mediterranean Sea.




The beaches in Italy are a bit different than what we are used to. Most Italians go to be seen and talk with their beach friends--who may be the same friends they talk to every other day or they may be friends they only see at the beach. Either way, the 2 reasons to go to the beach are to talk and to develop an extremely dark tan. The threat of skin cancer doesn't stand a chance compared to the Italian needs to look good and be social.

Here's Brandy looking good and being social.




The food is wonderful. Seafood obviously is the big star. Here is a sequence of Nora trying a snail cooked in a tomato&garlic sauce.

ok, ill try it...


Chewing...hmm, strange texture...


nope, definitely not a winner.



she also had some gnocchi with prawns. it was excellent.




and i had some tagliatelle with clams (vongole) and a grilled sea bass (spigola). they were both excellent and the fish was the freshest i've ever had. here's a picture of the pasta.




Another thing that's different in Italy is the beach itself. Many are pebbly, some are sandy, some are just plain rocky, and others feel like you're walking on Nerds candy--smooth and not painful to walk on (almost massage-like), but definitely not fine enough to be sand. This beach had them all. The main part of the beach is sandy and then pebbly. By scrambling across some rocks and wading through some knee-deep water, you get to a different beach. It had some of the nerds candy sand and some good old fashioned sand. This is where we went.


Here we are crossing the rocks:




Here's Nora wading through the knee-deep water.




And here's the view down the beach.




Ah, what a view...



The water is nearly perfect--a little cold but very pleasant on a warm day and clear as can be. the only thing missing is surfable waves. Well, you can't have everything...