Trip to Giulianova


Trip to Giulianova

Tuesday, October 24th, 2017

I have friends in Giulianova, in Abruzzo and decided to visit them on a weekend. It’s a relatively inexpensive (20 euros each way) 3 1/2 hour train ride from Bologna. I took some traditional Bolognese pastries as a gift and arrived on Friday evening. Aurelia picked me up at the train station and took me to their house and then we walked into town to do some shopping. I mention this mostly because at her favorite macelleria (butcher shop) the woman behind the counter who probably operates the place with her husband said that they were in New York on 9/11/2001. They had been planning to go to the twin towers that morning but fortunately were behind schedule when the attack occurred. Small world.

Bologna traditional pastries as a gift for Paolo and Aurelia. Actually the chestnut fritters on the left were for me and didn’t make to Abruzzo.

The major Piazza in Giulianova at sunset.

The next morning I walked around town taking some photos of anything that I found interesting and bought some flower for Aurelia. I have never seen flowers that looked like brain coral before and Aurelia said that they dry well so it was a good choice.

Painted utility cover in Guilianova

Another painted cover

And another

Decoration of a house in Giulianova – perhaps an artist lives there.

Flowers for Aurelia from a little open air market

The special event of the day was an outing on the boat that her husband Paolo owns with a partner, Marco. Paolo cooked penne with assorted seafood (clams, little bitty scampi, shrimp and cuttlefish). Aurelia says that it’s the only thing that he knows how to cook and does it, oh, 3 or 4 times a year. Then I went out for about a 2 hour sailing excursion with just Paolo and Marco. I’ve really only been on one sail boat before – a 30 foot one on Chesapeake Bay about 45 years ago. This one was considerably bigger at 46 feet. That extra 16 feet makes a lot of difference. I was simply a passenger who watched with amazement the occasional frenetic activity followed by a fairly long boring period of just letting the wind do it’s work. Seems like a lot of work for such a trip. Paolo said that it takes 14-16 hours to sail from Giulianova to Croatia so that’s probably about 13 1/2 to 15 1/2 hours of really not much to do other than go with the flow.

Paolo and Marco’s boat

Paolo’s lunch aboard the boat

Dante (one of their sons) and Aurelia

Just a pale faced passenger protected from the sun

Paolo at rest

Marco

Heading back into port

Serious fishing boats in the harbor

One of the things that surprised me was the number of serious looking fishing boats. I knew that the city is a seaside resort packed with people in the summer but had no idea that it must haul a heck of a lot of fish out of the Adriatic sea. I’d like to spend a day on one of those some day to watch the action – probably like sailing a lot of slack time punctuated by frantic activity.

Aurelia, Dante and Paolo

4 Responses to “Trip to Giulianova”

  1. Helen Brainerd Says:

    Looks pretty wonderful! I like the painted covers, too. Are they commissioned or just “gifts” from the artists? Are there rules about public art in Italy?

  2. Joe Says:

    I don’t really know about the covers. I’m guessing that they were just gifts from local artists. I have no idea about rules either in Italy or here. I’ve seem some pretty interesting paint jobs applied here and there in this country and assumed that as long as they weren’t vulgar or interfered with function then they were just left alone by whatever authorities.

    Joe

  3. Gail Glode Says:

    Hi Joe….We have Renata as a mutual friend and I love Abruzzo, where I have been adopted by my favourite village, lucky me! Been to Giulianova many times! I come to Bologna quite a bit too and I have also had the delightful experience of being a volunteer at Salaborsa. I am wondering if you have a favourite place to stay in Bologna…..I have been in San Lazzaro the last couple of times, but I think I would prefer to be closer to the centre. Hope you are enjoying your time, as always. Gail

  4. Joe Says:

    It depends on how long that you want to stay here. I mostly stay at a place on Via Orsoni which is much closer than San Lazaro.

    I’ll send you a private email with my contact information so we can discuss this further.

    Joe

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