Oh summer, how I shall miss thee! In a blink of an eye, you have disappeared back into hibernation once again, not to be seen until next year. What a summer it has been and what wonderful memories you have left behind. This year, we decided to do a little “Italian road trip” to Capo La Gala with the kids in tow!
After a crazy, hectic, fast, and furious few days in Naples, we headed down the coast to a little village north of Sorrento – Vico Equense. I had booked us all into Capo La Gala hotel, somewhere I had been dying to go for years. Perched on the rocks, this beauty is where dreams are made. It exceeded all my expectations, although trying to find it was perhaps enough to give someone a hernia – even with an iPhone which seemed to want to take us to the other side of the bay. Slightly infuriating, but after a number of wrong turns, some hairy moments close to the edge of a cliff, and at least 15 laps of the local town and the odd swear word, we made it to Capo La Gala!
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As we drove down the tiny, windy drive (don’t think about taking a Bentley down this road – a Fiat 500 is about the right size), I knew all the blood, sweat, and tears were worth it. Capo La Gala was magical – somewhere you could spend all summer sipping on aperol spritz and grazing on fresh seafood. Alas, we were just there for the night – well with 3 kids (young adults) with us. Any longer and we might have started to annoy the other guests (who were mainly couples) as well as potentially breaking the bank.
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We were greeted by the lovely staff and offered a glass of champagne each. After regaling our story of getting there, she politely offered me the bottle, and I politely accepted. Imagine lots of nautical, navy, wicker with dashes of bright turquoise and pink thrown in and a glistening, shimmering sea in the background. We spent the day lazing around, and the pool was glorious! We had lunch at the tavern – lobster spaghetti with copious amounts of rose – followed by a swim in the sea and more lazing by the pool; not a bad way to spend an afternoon at all! Lunch had been so good that we gave the Capo La Gala’s Michelin starred restaurant a miss and headed back to the tavern for more fresh fish.
The next day, we headed over to my all time favorite part of Italy – Puglia. My aunt had offered the use of her “Trullo” and now it was really time to kick back. Puglia is a hidden gem because there is so much to see and do. It has some of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen.
We were staying just outside the white washed city of Ostuni (inland)- about a 20 minute drive to Torre Canne (the beach). There are a number of beach clubs scattered along the coast, many serving Ricci – which is the local delicacy of sea urchin. After reading that Theo Randell (a London based Michelin starred chef) frequented Lido e Taverna da Santos – this is the place I really wanted to try. I made a reservation here a few months prior – and thank goodness I had! When we turned up, it was super busy (people were queuing outside and it wasn’t yet midday). After showing the receptionist my email confirmation, she radioed for someone to show us to our “sun loungers.” We were met by a very smart, sophisticated gentleman called Fabrizio (who turned out to be the owner).
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Lunch was booked at 2:00PM in the “Greek” inspired tavern, which was a welcome break after eating copious amount of pasta for the last week or so. We ordered a selection of Greek tapas – tzatziki, taramasalata, calamari, dolmades, and Greek salad – followed by Moussaka and fish to share. It all washed down with Ouzo (I opted out of that game) and some crisp white wine. It was the perfect setting. I loved the fact that the place was so buzzy and full of good-looking enthusiastic Italians, half standing in the sea chatting away with not a care in the world. They all looked lean and tanned – not a pasty, porky Brit in site – apart from us of course (well me and The Beard). This was the place to be – no wonder its Theo’s favorite.
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