Tropea - southern Calabria

Looking manly - & out for an evening stroll.

I'd never heard that this place was considered so desirable by Italians, but once here I could see why. There are lovely beaches (we pop round the corner to a gorgeous little place for our daily swim) and the town itself is made up of pretty little streets. Not surprisingly there's lots of tourist tat on offer in the shops but if one can turn a blind eye to this the town holds up remarkably well. Currently there's an (allegedly) blues festival on the go with live music being played in the town piazze in the evening. Not bad - but only a few of the numbers I heard could be remotely classes as 'blues.' No matter; meandering around town on a balmy Italian evening with music in the background is no cause for complaint!

On an entirely different topic, the town is famous for its production of red onions and you can see them displayed for sale in lots of the shops here. They are a very mild onion - even Marilena who has a delicate digestive sytem can happily eat them with no problems. I'd tasted them before whilst in Sardinia (raw on salad that time) and warmed to them immediately.

Indeed I bought some seeds a couple of years back and attempted to grow them in my vegetable garden; sadly, they refused to even germinate. But they are so tasty that I might try again - it'd be cool to use them in our cooking at home. (Indeed I can just confirm Marilena has just invested a couple of euros in a packet of onion seeds).

The photo on the left records one of our lunches at Tropea and includes grilled kebabs, tomato & fennel salad, braised tropea red onions and fresh bread. Served with local red wine. And all eaten outside in the sunshine. Magic.