9-17 Ortona in the Rain

 This whole week the weather channel has been threatening rain here.  We have managed to get out and enjoy several hours of pleasant weather every day.  But today our luck changed.  The skies are very heavy and the downpours are frequent.

During one of the lulls, we decided to drive down to the harbor and see what we could see.  You can see the dome of St. Thomas Cathedral is pretty much in the middle top of the photo.  The promenade runs in front of those Highrise buildings on the hill.  We sat on a bench up there yesterday and watched the harbor from there.  Today we are looking up.

Ortona has taken the idea of Thomas the Doubter and embraced it.  Down here in the harbor is a shrine to St. Thomas.  What three little children in a tub means is not explained. Those three plaques seem to be for clubs - See the Lions club on the right.

You can also see the castle from the harbor.

That statue in the harbor we saw from way up the hill - that's St. Thomas.

As typical of all statues - there is a bird on his head.

The skies are dark and ominous - but so far only sprinkles.

And we could get pretty close to the lighthouse.  In all the literature about Ortona, they talk about the red and white lighthouse - This is the only one we have seen.

The castle and the lighthouse!

We decided to push our luck with the weather and drive to see some beaches close by.  On the way it started raining much harder.  There is no coastal road.  In this area you take SS16 which is somewhat inland until you are close to the lido (beach) and then take a side road down to the water.  It was the same as the other areas in Italy we have been to.  There are railroad tracks a short distance from the water, then a road.  On the water side the road is lined with hotels.  In front of the hotels the beach is covered with chairs and umbrellas.  No one is out on the beach today, or-course!  

This area of Lido is not very long - maybe 10 or so hotels.  We noticed two of them were open for lunch.  One was advertised as an Argentinian-seafood restaurant.  We waited in the car for the rain to slow down.  It did a little after about 10 minutes.  We ran in - almost soaked my right foot as the water was not draining along the side of the road and it was pretty deep.  The owners did not complain as we dripped water everywhere.

They had a full Argentinian meal for 27 Euros.  But you had to get exactly what was on that menu.  Too much food for me.  And every piece of beef I have tried here in Italy has been tough and stringy.  But I did want to try the empanadas.  I got ground beef - one of them had something white in it as well - no idea what it was.  

Michael got seafood pasta.

Vegetables - The white large circles were potatoes.  The orange a squash and a bit of broccoli.  Frites were a mistake - I can still remember the perfect ones from Amsterdam.

Sea bream fillet

Michael's swordfish.  He thought it was covered with capers!  Nope - just peas.

I'm throwing in two miscellaneous food photos from a day or two ago.  

                                                 

I thought I was getting tiny 1/2" deep fried cheese balls.  The picture on the menu looked nothing like this.  These are the size of a small potato.  It is a spongy mix of bread/cheese mixture that is covered in tomato sauce.  

                                    

This is yesterday's lunch restaurant.  When we walked in it was crowded with workmen in uniforms.  You que up to order what you want - cafeteria style - it looks like Grandma's cooking.  After you pay you take it on a tray to your table.  It was all room temperature!  I got chicken and vegetables - it might actually have been good if it had been hot.  When I was almost finished I noticed the man in the middle (grey shirt with black stripes)  He is trying to figure out how long to warm his food in the microwave provided!  Most people didn't bother - just ate it as it was.  The restaurant was very busy the whole time we were there.  Lots of take-away as well as people eating in.