This morning Miss M and I walked through the center of town while Paul drove to Frosinone to pick up a package. We saw Pepino Marchetti who remembered first meeting Miss M when she first visited Pico at age 8, and we popped in and out of a few shops.

By 11:30am we arrived at Raggio di Sole, currently our favorite beach club in Sperlonga.

The sand was soft and hot, the water clear and calm. Little fishes swam nearby and the sky was a perfect shade of blue. While in the water we had a beautiful view up and down the coast: in one direction, the village of Sperlonga one mile away, the Arunci mountains behind the beach, and 25 miles in the other direction we could see past the town of Terracina to Monte Circeo.

For lunch we had fried calamari (not pictured), spaghetti with yellow and red tomatoes for Miss M, and tomatoes with buffalo mozzerella for me, with cocktails and followed by espressos of course. Later in the afternoon we enjoyed a crema cafe (a small cup of coffee ice cream) and a lemon granita which was super sweet and sugary. We saw someone enjoy tiramisu earlier in the day but have no room to eat more!

I could have stayed at the beach until sundown but we had to get back to Pico to prepare for our first dinner guest, our friend Carlo. 

Carlo owns Nena Al Borgo Castello, a four star hotel in Pico. We first met Carlo in 2012 and he’s been a good friend and advocate for us as we’ve assimilated into life in Pico.

Paul made spaghetti carbonara which Carlo seemed very impressed by. Carlo is a Roman and had high praise for this traditional Roman dish. 

After dinner, Paul, Carlo and I took a stroll through the borgo. A lot of people were enjoying the cool breeze at the Castel Pub and there was a nice view of Ferragosto fireworks being launched in the distance. More on Ferragosto tomorrow.

We ended the night at Sant. Antonino church where the first of two processions of St. Rocco just concluded. More on St Rocco and the dog holding a piece of bread on Sunday.