I hope you have been around Italians when someone NOT Italian has cooked pasta for them. Priceless. Facial expressions and all types of comments about the wrong combination of everything with everything else (did you know paprika could never be combined with tuna?), and of course, how not al dente they are. I think this is a fair equivalent to how Greeks react to shitty sea, and I am no better than this.
The first time I saw the sea in front of the camping at Palinuro, I was deeply shocked. Speechless sort of shock. This beach in Greece would not be exploited at all. If an AirBnB house had such sea in the front, the description would say something like: ‘the house lies by the sea, NOT suitable for swimming’. Or something around these lines. In front of our camping we had 4 rows of umbrellas so close to each other you could not reach the sea (I guess intentionally). You didn’t have difficulty entering just because of ‘some stones’, it was clearly impossible to enter. We talk about tectonic plates of some sort, a real joke.
And then I looked around: no one was swimming. Right. We go to the sea to look at each other and get some tan. *nervous breakdown* To be honest, people made some decent effort to assist our impossible task of entering the sea and dumped bags full of sand, so you could walk without losing your feet in the process. Of course you looked a bit like Jesus walking on the surface.
I tried to hide my shock, especially to not disappoint Gioia who looked forward to the big ‘finally, by the sea’ moment. Everyone that knows me, knows I can never hide what I feel, so despite my sincere effort, I looked depressed for the next 2 hrs.
And then it dawned on me. I have never, ever, heard of a Greek visiting Italy in the summer for sea holidays. I am not saying there is no single one, but I never heard it, let’s say it is very uncommon. You go to Italy to visit amazing cities, culture and beautiful landscapes (bella Italia still holds), but nothing about the sea. Whereas the greek islands are every summer full of Italians #nowiknowwhy. It took me only 36 years to realize, well, better late…
Update: the impression has gone up a bit with the days passing, but not much. Yes, you can find beaches you can enter the sea, yes sometimes (not often) it is not windy and you can also see your feet under water, but overall..home, sweet home. I would say if someone wants uncompromised beautiful sea for the summer, save yourself some effort and just go to Greece (I have received the question: ‘which island shall I visit’ so many times, that I have made an Excel, ready for you to use).
Anyway, we are in Puglia. The supposedly paradise of crystal waters. And seaweed. And black rocks. But we had a fantastic day today, hybernating by the sea in front of our camping. The closest so far to my (I admit) high standards.
