A couple of days ago, I spoke with Mom about how our time
here is limited. We really only have 10 good days (now), and we want to get as
much out of the time as possible. So we made a plan to start sleeping less in
the midday hours, and worry less about cooking pranzo (lunch), which is the
main meal here. 
On Wednesday night, we went to the Festa di Santa Cristina
in Campomarino sopra. It was a great night of shopping and people watching. Zia
found the change purse she’s been seeking, and I found a guy selling pampanella
(a slightly spicy seasoned roasted pork). I had a few bites, and brought the
rest home for pranzo yesterday. For cena (dinner) on Wednesday, I had a Panini Kebab.
It was a similar to shwarma in the States, for those familiar with the Turkish
specialty. It was one of the tastiest foods I’ve ever eaten. They used beef and
turkey and added roasted peppers, marinated mushrooms and fresh tomatoes, along
with what was described to me as “sauce.” It was a little spicy, but each bite
was better than the last. The town was all lit up for the festa and the main piazza
was piping out hit after American hit. I also took in some of the murals, for
which the town is locally known. 
Yesterday, we decided to head to Lido Ritz, a beach club
near here. We rented an umbrella and seats on the beach for Giovedi, Sabato, e
Domenica (Thursday, Saturday and Sunday). Lido Ritz has a ramp for Mom’s
scooter and she parks it about 2 meters from our umbrellone (big umbrella). We
went swimming, I lathered on my zero SPF dark tanning oil (use your imagination
to picture a guy my size oiled up), and my farmer’s tan turned into a bright
red glow (it has since bronzed out a bit).
After spending most of the day at the beach club, we headed
into the center of town for the Festa di Sant’Anna. The church here in
Campomarino Lido is the Chiesa (church) di Sant’Anna, so she is our town’s
Saint. Normally there is a processional with a band and fireworks at the end.
We saw nothing, and when I inquired about it, people told me Italy is in a
crisis and there is no money for bands and fireworks. In turn, we had pizza,
tipped the waiter (which is extremely strange here) and headed home.
This morning we awoke with the idea of going to Isole
Tremiti (a group of islands off the coast), but we decided that we got so much
sun yesterday that we should rest our skin a little today. Instead we went back
to sleep, then headed into town for some Friday market shopping. First stop was
the farmacia (pharmacy) where I learned that prescription medications are
cheap, but large band aids and peroxide are expensive (to the tune of about $24
for 10 band aids and a travel size bottle of peroxide). Then we were off to the
salumeria (lunchmeat store) on wheels that rolls in each Friday morning. They
have some of the best mortadella and assorted cheeses that I have found, and
their prices are lower than most. We then went into the main part of the Friday
market and Mom bought a new table cover. The interesting thing is that she
bought 2 table covers in America and brought them to Italy, and now she bought
a table cover here to bring back to America.
We ate lunch around 1, and I told Zia to scendi giu (come
downstairs) around 3:30. I decided it was time to head into Termoli. Parking in
Termoli has been a nightmare this year, so I thought we should head into town
early. When we got there at like 4, only the bars were open. We stopped at
Microbar, our favorite one, had a café, and waited until about 5:15 when stores
were opening. Zia needed stockings and the rest of us went sightseeing. I went
looking through the Mont Blanc store for a pen, and realized that $400 is a lot
for a single pen. We then visited the historic section of town that dates back
to the 1500s and the time of Federico II. We passed by the port and had one of
the nicest passagiatta’s ever. We stopped for gelato at a place that is tops on
my list, and I’ve eaten A LOT of gelato, and people watched for about an hour.
It was a very enjoyable night, and we were home by 9 so we could relax and get
ready for more sun and sand tomorrow.
