We drove west to the coast. As we came down out of the mountains and the
temperatures increased so did our spirits. We love the mountains, but the
coastal areas and the rolling hills part of Tuscany are our favorites. We
escaped the autostrada near Viterbo and meandered our way to the med.
Porto Santa Stefano
A nice working village on the coast of Tuscany on what looks like a island
but officially is not. We celebrated my birthday here some time in the past on
just a quick overnight stop. At was a great experience so we are back in time
to do it again. Most of the area is about tourism and this time of year mostly
closed. Stefano, on the other hand is a working village, with a fishing fleet
and a ferry fleet so, unlike the other areas, it is alive all year. It is the
classic Italian much in the likes of the Amalfi coast. The town stretches up
the side of the mountain that surrounds the busy harbor. Our home is the 2 star
Albergo da Alfiero, the only hotel in town on the water. There are couple of
others high up on the hill, but we wanted “in town”. It is a old hotel that at
one time could have been a grand villa. There is a grand stairwell to the upper
floors, know marred by a elevator in the middle of it, but I am thankful) with steps worn by time,
tile linoleum floors that harken back to another era, old metal bed but with a
modern mattress, the towels are a little thread bare and the shower leaks a
little, a very small balcony that is shared with a/c unit and a large sign
saying “HOTEL” give a great view of the harbor and the ferries off to places that
in your mind can be to exotic ports like Tangiers or Alexandia. (In fact they
just go to the island of Giglio). But it is very clean and neat. This time of
year the only people in town are residents and a handful of tourist . Working
people, fisherman, ferry crew, police, go about their daily activities. As my friend, Michael Struass who rode his Vespa solo across Africa from
South Africa to Italy http://soloscooterist.com/, wrote of the
Amalfi coast, this is a place your mind can easily go back to the time of black
and white movies and since little has changed in this village you see in your
mind a village and it’s people as they were years ago.
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| obituary |
So, for the big event, my birthday celebration, we went back to the
original restaurant. First we went to find a margarita. Last time we were
sitting next to the water at a outside bar area and a handsome Italian waiter
came promptly from the bar across the street and presented us with a drink
menu. It was cold, light rain, and dark and we were just killing time until the
restaurant opened, but for some reason the marg struck my fancy. As we awaited
it’s delivery we speculated on how ordering a margarita in Italy could be a big
mistake, but we need not have worried. I do not know if it was the weather, the
location, the end of a long day driving but we agreed that it was a fantastic
drink. The waterside restaurant this time did not have a quick stepping water
and in fact they had no waiter, so for the since of adventure we went to the
Boca Bar with a enclosed glass balcony overlooking the harbor. They are taking
part in another American phonome? the happy hour where they lay out a buffet of
free items. We ordered at the bar but they promptly delivered a very expectable
marg.
From there we moved on to the Trattoria Lo Sfizio restaurant. I had stopped in to say
hello to Raffaele and his brother Leonardo (or as his momma calls him at 45 "the baby) the owner and chef when we got to town and
they were waiting for us with open arms. He presented us with a glass of said
“enjoy”. After a appropriate time he came with the menu and said “take your
time, I will be back”. There are only 10 tables in this restaurant and about
half where occupied, but he kept a going exchange with us as he passed by. He
came by and took our wine order which we let him pick. He could have gone high
end but he went for a excellent red and “mid-range” price he said. “You will
like it” and we did. He returned to take our order and recommend the fried fish
appitizer. He has a way of holding up his had flat toward you, in sort of a
“wait” motion, but actually indicating this is a good thing. We ordered, we
ate, we loved them. We moved on with the first course and let him decide for us
between the daily fish pasta special or the house specialty of pasta, seafood
and pesito sauce. We had the seafood pesito and must say it was excellent. That
is as far as we got on the food menu. We had lingered over each dish and when
it was done we were to full for anything else but a shared dessert and company.
The middle age German couple at the table next to us joined us and the grappa
bottle was set on the table with four glasses. We did not do damage to bottle
but we did have a great time. We set and had international discourse for well
over a hour. Wally and Vicki bonded of the temperatures not being warm
enough. Wally is a teacher so she says there is not much choice on when she
gets her breaks, but by god I want it to be warmer. We said our goodbyes all
around and thanked Leonardo and Raffaele for another great event.
Yes, sometimes you can go back and it is even better than the first
time.
they all came to my party
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| Leonardo, Angelo the pizza chef, and Raffaele |
