Tuesday July 29: Ascea beach and Dinner at Nonno Ninuccio

Jul 31

Jul 31 Tuesday July 29: Ascea beach and Dinner at Nonno Ninuccio

Zia Marina joins the crew today! She landed in Naples early and took a train to Vallo, the nearest train station to Gioi. Vallo is still 20 minutes from us but it is 20 minutes in the direction of the beach town, Ascea.

We headed to breakfast at Bar Gelateria Nazionale around 9:30 because we wanted cornetti rather than the bread feast of the agriturismo. Then to the Vallo train station for Zias 10:30 arrival. I found her at the bottom of the stairs and carried her bag up while to our car which had to be re-packed to accommodate.

Some car organization, a stop at the supermarket for snacks, a little bit of a wrong turn, and we finally made it to the beach by noon. The weather was not as hot as it was on our previous beach day, but it was sunny and windy. Unfortunately the storm from yesterday was causing pretty big waves and there was a red flag flying which means…don’t swim.

It was still a gorgeous day, and it was possible to get your feet wet. Actually some of the waves were so big that the water splashed to my waist without really even being in the water.

Beach lunch picnic around 1:30, some leftover goodies from yesterday and some new goodies today. The tomatoes were amazing. I know I’ve said it a bunch of times but these were even specialer. :)

The little orange squeeze bottle is how we packed the olive oil to bring to the beach. Ugh. So good.

Beach naps, beach beers, and it was time to return to Ninuccio (with a stop for gelato on the way of course). We got back around 4:30, dressed for dinner, and headed to Bar Max for our last cocktail in Gioi.

Tonight my mom organized a family dinner at Nonno Ninuccio for almost 20 people. When everyone started arriving, it was a beautiful golden hour. Family pictures were being taken with all of the gorgeous views.

Oh also this is their cat Celestina who followed us around all week and became my friend. I’m allergic so I can’t really touch her but I fed her and took one quick photo before washing my hands.

Dinner was another 3 course meal: so many appetizers, a pasta course, and a meat course.

Apps: zucchini, zucchini flowers, bruschetta, cheese, meats. I guess you could say “the usual” at this point but it’s all just so damn good.

For pasta I had the Gioi specialty of fusilli which is a long, thin, hollow noodle. I’m not a huge pasta person but I couldn’t stop eating this. I think the handmade pasta is just softer and it ruins all other pastas for me.

Entree was another mixed meat situation for Phil and a pork chop for me. I wasn’t sure how I would feel about the pork chop but it was surprisingly juicy for being so thin.