Learning to like San Cataldo

The temperature dropped from the mid-90s to the mid-80s during our second week in San Cataldo, which made the place seem a bit more like a beach town and less like a circle of hell. I decided I ought to try to appreciate this bit of Adriatic coast, instead of being so insistently negative.

After all, the place we were staying was nice enough, perfectly comfortable even if it wasn't particularly photogenic.



The front garden was pretty, although we only saw it on our way in and out.

And some of the streets nearby, full of flowering oleander and, behind the walls, bigger, fancier houses, were almost glamorous.

The skies at sunset were beautiful. (The sun rising over the water was probably even lovelier, but I never got up that early.)







And being by the water is an undeniable pleasure. There's a nice promenade and bike path along the shore in the center of town.

There's even a little lighthouse, though I never saw the light on. Maybe that's because it was never cool enough to be foggy while we were there.

But...I can't not say it...San Cataldo could be a lot nicer. Many of the streets are drab; the walls guarding the houses, grimly utilitarian and often grafittied, make the place feel like a prison yard.

And if I were one of the many realtors trying to sell San Cataldo properties, I'd be working to change the garbage collection system. Instead of picking up the spazzatura at people's houses, the town maintains collection bins every other block or so. Inevitably, the bins overflow and the trash spreads out up and down the street. This is on top of the litter everywhere that I keep complaining about.

Then there's all the evidence of recession. The many, many shuttered and boarded-up buildings and stores along the shore cast a bit of a post-apocalyptic pall. 

At least someone's looking out for all the feral dogs and cats. I saw several of these little cafes around town.

Speaking of food, we had some good meals in San Cataldo. My favorite place was La Rizzara da Domenica, a funky little seafood restaurant by the water.

 It's the kind of place that makes no attempt at charm, which is what's charming about it. We ordered fried calamari and fried sardines. The proprietor told me that they only had enough sardines for a half-portion, so she was going to give me...something else, which I couldn't understand.


Here's the serving of sardines she found inadequate:

 And here are the fried baby squid she gave me so I wouldn't starve:

Nonetheless, Danny and I both felt a bit peckish after all that, so we shared a plate of spaghetti with mussels and clams. This plate is my half.

So for all San Cataldo's flaws, it has a lot of good qualities, too. Not least among them that it's in Italy.