Marcello and Mariassunta have a real estate office in S. Maria, selling land, vacation apartments, and homes in the area. Knowing that I had worked in this realm once upon a time, and was therefore familiar with the terminology, they asked for my help in translating their listings into English. Apart from being thrilled to have the opportunity to give back for once, I was actually excited to work, if only for a few hours. So, upon waking at Franco's house, I walked to the real estate office, and as I was late as usual, I blamed the crazy traffic I had encountered.They let it go, just this once, and I got down to work. Here's the site, with my translations: http://www.casecilento.it/siteuk/ . If you're looking to invest in some property in Italy, this is one of the most beautiful and under appreciated areas of Italy that I have visited, so buy away.
All that hard office work made me hungry, so I went back to Franco's house for lunch. What did the big-time deluxe seafood restaurateur make me for lunch? A recipe called water and salt. Ingredients: dried bread, tomato, basil, garlic, hot peppers, olive oil, and of course, water and salt. The water moistens the bread, and the dish is served cold with your Italian beer of preference, or wine if you're celebrating something. You think "wow, pulling out all the stops for his guest," and maybe pity me, but our friend Franco was driving home a point that I have learned through experience. In Italy, the fresh and wholesome quality of the ingredients makes the simplest food taste better than any elaborately planned meal. Franco had prepared me his favorite dish, and showed me once again why I love Italian cuisine so much.
After lunch, we took a trip to see Pasquale, who owns a hotel and restaurant in the nearby frazione of Ogliastro Marina. As it turns out, Pasquale has two aunts and three sisters living in San Diego, so we had a lot to talk about. Moreover, these three sisters owned two authentic Italian restaurants in San Diego (trattoria Positano in Cardiff and Hillcrest - though the Hillcrest one has been since sold - and another restaurant in Del Mar), and it turns out I had been to two of them. Very small world! Pasquale poured me a glass of Cointreau, gave me the full tour of his hotel, Il Cefalo, and then introduced me to his parents, who had also been very frequently to San Diego, and knew it intimately. We then left the hotel to check out Punta Licosa, but not before Pasquale's Mother gave me a local specialty, dried roasted figs with almond and fennel tucked inside, and separated by leaves of laurel. Delicious and a nutritious bomb of energy.
We just caught the falling of dusk at Punta Licosa, which was in the midst of a very large personal holding of some member of Italy's nobility. it was very interesting to see this gigantic swath of property, a choice piece of real estate, and know that it was all still owned by one family, who interacted daily with the rest of the local population. With that, we returned to S. Maria, where I wrapped up some more website translations, we had an evening aperitivo, and we headed to another friend's house in Agropoli to eat pizza and watch Inter Milano - Palermo. It was a low-key Saturday night, and a good end to a relaxing day.
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