It is the end of September and whilst writing this it is still very warm, around 30°C/86°F but there are dark clouds over the Centro Storico with rumbles of thunder sounding around us.
Yes, we have had rain and thunderstorms this month but not many and it has kept warm pretty much all month. There was just one evening John and I did not stay out on the terrace because we thought it was cold. Shock, horror, it reached a low of 20°C/68°F at night. We have changed!! It was quite a cool breeze though.
People go and people come
September may mean that the bulk of Italian visitors have left Scalea but a good number of international visitors arrived. I don’t blame them as September is a lovely month to visit as the visitor numbers have reduced immensely and the weather is still beautiful.
Our friends, Evan and Dee stayed with us for three days from the UK. It is good when people stay as we tend to have a holiday too. We have been living here since December 2018 and have never visited one of the major landmarks of Scalea that we see every day, Torre Talao (Talao Tower). So, we thought we would go together with Evan and Dee. It is worth a visit. To visit, you need to go to the hut near the road and Franco is the man that will show you around the tower. He does speak a little English and that along with our little Italian, we learned a lot about the tower and the history of Scalea. One of the major things I learned is that the name Scalea does not come of the word le scale (or la scala) which means stairs (or step) – there are a lot of stairs in Centro Storico. It comes from the word scalia which means harbour in Calabrian and Scalea had a natural harbour at the Ajnella end of the coast.
We then showed Evan and Dee around the town Diamante as they hadn’t been there before. They enjoyed seeing the murals and chillies hanging up as it is chilli season now and you see lots hanging out to dry.
We also went to the should be famous beach in San Nicola Arcella with the beautiful natural archway, L’Arco Magno. It is such a beautiful beach to visit. It is probably best to visit by boat, or pedalo as there were a couple of those when we were there. We did the semi treacherous walk, which I don’t think we should do but so many people were doing it. We will play it safe next time though.
Our Swedish friends Jenny and Ola, Gert and Ann-Kristin who already own homes have been here this month for longer than normal stays. They also had friends visit whilst they were here.
Angela and Tony N’s daughter Natalie came over too with Angela’s brother, Mario and their mother. We had a nice evening with Natalie at our place along with her parents after they finished working at Cimalonga Restaurant.
So, there was quite an influx of Swedish visitors. We met up with a lot of them of course, they are very lovely people so it was a pleasure to do.
Tony E’s daughter Helen also visited again this year and it was lovely to see her again. As usual she stayed with us for an evening and we stayed up until the early hours chatting and drinking wine. This time we were outside.
The following day Helen said that she hadn’t seen the village of Cirella. So, we went there for a walk around before she had to be back. We walked streets John and I hadn’t seen since we viewed properties there in February 2018. We remember seeing a property that we loved there but it was out of our budget. It is a lovely place to have a wander and I’m sure it is a lovely place to live away from the hustle and bustle. Not sure what the middle of August is like though. Outside one of the houses, there was this amazing looking plant which we were told is called a monkey tail cactus. It didn’t look real.
Moira and Rosa from the US, who haven’t been able to come since March last year, were finally able to come back. Moira has been looking for a property since 2019. She is staying for 3 months this time, with her lovely dogs, in the hope it can be finalised whilst she is here. Fingers crossed Moira, I really hope you get sorted. We met up with them a few times at Cimalonga restaurant and Trattoria Gallo Bianco with our Swedish friends and also at Bar da Pietro to watch the sunset. Rosa stayed with Moira for the first 3 weeks but has now returned to the US. hope to see you soon Rosa.
Visit from a Reader of my Blog
A very nice thing happened this month. I was contacted through the contact page on this blog by a man called Iain who was visiting Italy and visiting Scalea for three nights with his girlfriend Rachel. He said that he reads my blog every month and would it be OK to meet up for a drink. Of course! So, we met up in da Pietro on their first evening for a sundowner or two. They are a lovely couple and we talked about Italy and and we advised what there is to do around Scalea. We met them again on the following two evenings and it was great to hear more about them and what they managed to see in and around Scalea. Luckily, they also love Scalea like us and found the place relaxing, so much so they didn’t do everything they planned. Hopefully this means we will see them again soon so they can see everything else. It was lovely to meet you two and safe travels home.
Belvedere Marittimo
We wanted some things for the house and I saw and advert on Facebook for a place called Brico e Casa in Belvedere Marittimo. So, we went to see what it was all about. It seems to sell pretty much anything you would need for a home and it is laid out in a large warehouse. They sell everything from kitchenware to bathrooms to kitchens and furniture for house and garden and art prints. I loved it! We bought a few things we needed. We will definitely return when we need something else.
Whilst we were in Belvedere, we had a wander around the sea front and saw the harbour for the first time. Completely different to what Scalea has. Scalea has a place where they pretty much park boats on the beach or anchored in the sea if the water is calm. This was a properly built harbour. So, if ever we buy a boat, we know where we would like to keep it. I don’t think we can do the Italian lottery to be able to afford one though. Ha-ha.
Seeing a wedding at Praia a Mare
During a walk around the town of Praia A Mare one of the days, we noticed there was a wedding happening in one of the churches there. We could see that the service was still happening inside the church, as the doors were open. There were horn players outside on each side of the door waiting for the bride and groom to come out. So, we had to wait and see what happened next. When the bride and groom did finally come out, the horn players played The Wedding March. For some reason I wasn’t expecting something that obvious, but it was pretty cool. The guests used huge confetti poppers and their wedding car was a Maserati. They had two photographers, a videographer and a drone camera. It was quite a spectacle.
We then drove home via San Nicola for the scenic route (we didn’t take a wrong turn er… honest!). Then when we got to the San Domenico hotel close to where we live, the wedding party were queuing in their cars outside to get into the reception that must have been held there. What are the odds on that?!
Finally, I have to tell you about my cat, Freddie’s friend, Max. He is the cat that belongs to the people next door. Him and Freddie seems to spend a lot of time with together, playing and running around, sometimes hissing at each other. Well Max hisses at Freddie as Freddie does randomly stalk and ponce on him. Max is a pretty chubby cat, so obviously likes his food but now he has taken to eating Freddie’s food. I caught him in the act once. So I will end with a photo of him and Freddie outside of our door and then another taken minutes later of his defiant look at me at Freddie’s feeding bowl before he ran outside. Ha-ha.
Hope you enjoyed September’s post. I wonder what October will be like. I will let you know. Until then.
Ciao