To protect our liver and waistline, Karine, in her infinite wisdom, planned a hike for us. Staying in the city for a full day would likely have turned into a walking tour of all the day-drinking establishments, and in a town with a university, they are plentiful. Remember the comfortable chairs? We do.
We’re going to different sets of cliffs overlooking the same sea. Our hike starts near Grotta del Pepe and heads North toward Grotta della Poesia. If you sense a theme in the landmarks, you would be correct. Turns out that the things to see in that section of the coast are caves carved out by the sea. From the top of the cliff, it’s not as great as we'd originally thought, but the views remain wonderful (as are the pictures).
The plan was to do a loop, and it was successful at first. We took a narrow country road to a small park, bypassing the cliffs we would walk along on our way back. Shit hit the fan as soon as we arrived at the park, as the trail we needed to follow was closed. It’ll be mostly a back-and-forth; we’ll see the same thing from two angles, and we’ll be fine.
Going along the cliffs, we get to the next beach town over with its sandy beach. Our goal is about one and a half kilometres past the town. By the time we’ve reached the multiple Lido (chair and umbrella rental) on the beach, Karine is getting stressed. Not by the relaxing beaches but by the fact she’s been our navigator for the past five kilometres on mostly unmarked trails. Little-known fact: Karine doesn’t like being the navigator.
We press on toward our goal still. As we head back along the cliffsides, we’re met with barriers that keep us away from the cliffs due to recent landslides, and a little farther, the road is entirely blocked.
Throwing the towel after 5km (out of the 5.5km planned for the way to our destination), we walk back to one of the Lidos and make it a beach afternoon. 30€ for two hours on a sun-bed might seem pricey, but it’s precisely what the doctor ordered. Also, Karine had planned that, in the event we wanted to swim, we would pack our towels and bathing suits. Stroke of genius, I say.
Alternating between swimming and relaxing for a couple of hours did wonders. Recharged and happy, we walked the remaining three kilometres to our car (making it a nine-kilometre hike with a break at the two-thirds mark).
Our evening started with an Aperol Spritz at Caffè Letterario, followed by rosé at Braceria Toro Nero, a wine bar that offered us a delicious local wine by the glass. The real star of the evening was dinner at Duo. Michelin recommended and much fancier than expected. People seem to make a point of dressing up for a meal there, at 100€ per person for the discovery menu of 9 courses, which excludes wine. I can understand that it attracts a different kind of clientele, but I’m not sure the food will know the difference between a man in a T-shirt and his best shirt or polo. The waiters will be too polite to point out any perceived slights in any case. The chef, who visited every table, didn’t seem to mind my t-shirt and was happy to tell us and defend his enjoyment of Brian Adam and Nickelback—two very Canadian products.
The meal itself was excellent. It started with a wide array of amuse-bouches, including a set of faux olives: one made of fish tartare, the other of meat tartare. It was followed by a long succession of plates (nine courses in all), with a variation on “I would not expect this to taste like that.” The desert contained anchovies and turned out delicious. We thoroughly enjoyed our evening.
