Sat 16 July - Tomato Beach: A Tough Day in the Office

Tomato Beach.  Pomodoro Spiaggia.  What a great little spot.  A tucked away little gem.  No, it's not groomed, raked or preened, and it is a little frayed around the edges, but that is it's charm.  Refreshing simplicity.  

A long long stretch of glorious sand and gently shelving warm, warm sea Pomodoro Spiaggia is, so far, untouched and untainted by the stains of tourism.  This is where Abruzzo wins.  There is not a single hotel in sight, there are no children's playgrounds, no cocktail bars, no pedalos for hire.  Just sand, sea, sunbathers and a few kite surfers.  

There's a small stretch of beds and umbrellas, a little restaurant and bar serving the most delectable sea food, and that's it.  Just perfect.  And you'd never know it's there.

The beach lies on a very nondescript stretch of road just south of Francavilla al Mare and the only access is under the railway line or through a hole in the fence in Tollo station. 

This is what makes it so exciting.  No smart, decking boardwalks onto a preened beach, but a squeeze through a gap in a fence, or a duck under a very low, very old brick built archway of a tiny railway underpass.  There's  a short walk down a labyrinth of clustered and cluttered houses with narrow dusty walkways, not unlike the streets of Tanzania.  

And then there are the tomatoes!  Fields and fields of them, and poly tunnel after poly tunnel.  All tatty and cobbled together.  Just love it.

And that is how we now seem to be spending our days.  What else can you do with this heat?  We work in the mornings, KP in his newly created office rather enjoying being the Italian branch of KPRS, and me working on our Kokopelli website, connections, links and promotion.  

There's also outside to be kept on top of, the house to be looked after and the development of the Kokopelli  branded home made produce and jewellery.  But, by mid afternoon, our steam tends to dry up with the searing heat of the sun.  Enough.  Down tools and hit the road.  

After a half hour's drive through the most glorious, dramatic scenery, along the drippingly green over grown Foro Valley, past all the vineyards, and we've left behind the mountains of the Majella.  Half an hour, that's all it takes from mountains to sea.  Abruzzo.  Never ever fails in her breath taking moments.  Humbled by her raw yet regal beauty.  Utterly unique.  

And how lucky are we?