| Newsletter August 2008
Undiscovered Italy: Gaeta, a place of light on the sea
Topic : Towns
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I have no doubt in saying that Gaeta is surprising destination and it should always be included in the itineraries for anyone contemplating a trip to Rome for longer than one week. It's sunny, bright, on a cobalt blue sea, Mediterranean, plenty of character and with a very long history.
The roads from Rome to Gaeta are a little holiday in itself. The old Pontina Road starts at the outskirt of Rome and takes until the south of the region Lazio. After you by pass Latina, here you are on the northern border of South Pontino. The scenery gets very exciting near
Terracina
with the sights of the western Ausoni Mountains behind. But the very best is where the
Aurunci Mountains
get really close to the sea with high and spectacular cliffs falling straight into the sea.
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Gaeta is a sea town wrapped in sunlight that appears almost magically from nowhere to the sight of drivers coming from north, on the Via Flacca SS213, from Rome. The first road to enter Gaeta from north is a curvy road reaching the district of Fontania, one of the most spectacular north-west suburbia of Gaeta right on the South Tyrrhenian Sea.
The aspect that always keeps me amused is the sunny and bright light that seems to surround this ancient town on the sea. To be in Gaeta means to live in a very bright place, a place of light. After the first curves descend towards the long beach of Serapo here the sea appears again: vast, majestic, deep blue around the hill of
Mount Orlando .
Many foreign friends of mine, first-time visitors to Gaeta, asked me why the town is not known abroad.
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The architecture, the ancient and interesting history events, the archaeological treasures are in many ways overwhelming for quality and quantity. However, apart of many Americans who have lived in Gaeta with the US Navy force, not many foreigners seem to know the town abroad. In my view this could be in reality the good fortune of this medieval town. Differently form other beautiful tourist towns in Italy, Gaeta seems to preserve its ancient charm in a very naïf, genuine and casual way and without the oceanic crowds of tourists all around.
Although in August Gaeta is notoriously crowded, more expensive and crowded by regional holiday commuters, in the rest of the year the town keep its relaxed and quiet
rhythm and lifestyle .
The Gaetani’s rhythm of life is nicely slower paced and peaceful.
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September is the months when most of the crowd is gone back to the cities and Gaeta comes back to its semi-lethargic and peaceful rhythm of a Mediterranean seaside town. This my preferred time of the year to enjoy Gaeta at its best. The weather is still very warm and sunny. The metallic sound to fishermen boats leaving and coming to the port dictates the beginning of the day and the arrival of the dusk or the end of the siesta time according to the seasons. This beautiful place plenty of sunlight can captivate many people. I believe that since my childhood time with every summer spent here, I developed a love affair with these landscapes and its people and culture. Here, Gaeta is certainly a tribute to the image of Italy that many Italy lovers love so much, a candid portrait that takes us
off the beaten path
and reveals an Italy not covered in any guidebook.
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A walk in the medieval centre before lunch time will inevitably mean a paradise for your nose. The inviting smell of food will bring you imagines of the most mouth watering and well kept gastronomic secrets that every Italian family keeps in its tradition.
The traditional dishes
are mostly made up of fish: risotto alla pescatora, spaghetti with all types of seafood and several fish soups, or the amazingly tasty local seabass with olives in white wine. Most famous it is the "tiella" a sort of folded pizza realized in many varieties: again with different seafood or vegetables and cheese.
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Gaeta's geographical location half way between Rome and Naples and the great variety of gastronomy products from land and sea allows you to switch and enjoy the best of two different regional cuisines: one from the sea and fishermen and the other a more typical inland cuisine, the
mountain and shepherds gastronomy .
With the mountains so close to the sea in a few miles this unique blend of regional tastes gives the opportunity to taste the typical local food ranging from the real
buffalo mozzarella , to
Neapolitan pizza ,
to the seafood and also mountain delicatessens. Every time I come to Gaeta I always look forward to enjoy the taste of the different local Italian recipes and delicatessens.
As you in Italy the regional differences are very marked and each town, each region, is very different from next one and in some way special, unique and distinct.
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When you think that its history dates back over 2600 years than every stone of your roads seem to recount a piece of history. Gaeta, to me, is Italy in microcosm. The local people are fishermen by nature as they have been fishing and sailing in their gulf for millennia; they’ve passed on family traditions to dozens of generations. A walk in the lively
fishermen district
of the Borgo will reveal the industrious nature of the Gaetani so attached and depend by the sea but also so close to their
mountains .
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The natural
countryside landscape
surrounding Gaeta is characterized by hills on the sea with thousands of olive trees for the cultivation of the worldwide famous
olives of Gaeta ,
used for the production of table olives and for the excellent local extra virgin olive oil. Everyone knows that Italians live a romance with their food.
Speaking of food ,
on Sunday is the big day of the week! There are days when you'd wake up to the inviting smell of garlic and onions frying in olive oil and tomato sauce.
Here in Gaeta, many Italians still live according to old traditions. Many families still have theirs gardens hidden in the town or on the hills around. They are not just gardens with flowers, but huge gardens where they grow bright red, sweet, succulent tomatoes, tomatoes, and more tomatoes.
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Of course, they also grew peppers, basil, lettuce and all sorts of vegetables. They eat them, cook them, and some families sell them on the tiny streets and alleys of the Borgo. Many have a grapevine and a fig tree, and in the suburban or rural area surrounding Gaeta, many families make homemade wine, lots of it and then sell it, often only to friends of friends.
What’s better than enjoying a glass or two of your friends’
homemade wine
when eating at home in your Mediterranean garden patio or terrace over the sunny gulf of Gaeta?
Wine invites to meditation, and you may get lost within your thoughts giving way to the beauty of the sea in the gulf and simply forgetting that you are on the terrace of your home.
The peace one can enjoy in the evening is typically Mediterranean. This is the moment of the day when locals engage in their daily evening walk, one of the most typical habit of southern Italians.
This is a time for relaxing, socializing, observing the crowd doing exactly the same. And most of all this is also time for their fantastic home-made gelato cones (the Italian ice-cream).
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Here on Sunday the children run to play in the streets, the youngest with their parents around. New young mothers and fathers display happily their last arrival in the family. Friends and family are met in the streets and coffee shops on the marina. Living here mean also grab the lifestyle and taking your time to give more attention to the simpler daily pleasures in life. Life seems to run happily at slower pace, almost as a magical spring of wellbeing. This rhythm is something that you become tuned on with after only few weeks and easily get addicted to in this ancient and peaceful seaside town.
For me, Italy is a land of luscious history, splendid poetry, exotic architechture, a vibrant culture, of green vineyard vistas and ebullient wine, of bursting red tomatoes and peppers at a farmer's market, of a hundred types of pasta, of the smells of a bakery--fresh,
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strong coffee and frothy creams in the mornings, of the whiteness of winter and azure sea-side summers, of big families, of flirtatious men and earthy, sensuous women, of classic fashions, of a language that feels like butter on your tongue, of operas and folk dances, I could go on....but then, I guess all of that is mainly in my imagination
One can think of many countries that have amazingly rich cultures,
great food and an amazing history but there are very few, if any, that can outdo Italy's rich and diverse culture.
You can be living in Italy for decades and never really be bored about food; after many years one can still be discovering new dishes or recipes this country has to offer
There is an appreciation for beauty in this country that simply engulfes the visitor, from beautiful landscapes, beautiful people who dress beautifully to beautiful dishes that taste better than they look and beautiful sensations to be had, seen and felt- Italy really is the land of beauty!
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