Things to do in Pizzo

If you would visit Calabria and would spent some time in Pizzo, here are the things not to be missed:

Ice cream:
Il tartufo was invented here in Pizzo to honor the visit of Prince Umberto I of Savoy in 1943. There are about 15 gelaterias in Pizzo, all small family business with their own secret recipe for the tartufo.


Tuna & swordfish:
Pizzo is famous for its swordfish, pesce sparda and its tuna. Even the Japaneses import the tuna of this region.


Sightseeing:
Walking up and down the small alleys in the old centro storico and enjoying the views of the sea and the roofs of this picturesque little town. The main sight is il castello Murat, where unlucky Joachim Murat, ex-king of Napels and BIL of Napoleon was imprisoned and executed in 1815. Also impressing is the amount of 10 churches in this little town of about 9.000 inhabitants. One is built into a grotto, la Chiesa di Piedigrotta. But the heart of Pizzo is La Piazza Repubblica. It is also called il salotto, the living room, as this is where people meet, especially in the evening.
Castello Murat and view of Pizzo Marina

Beaches:
Pizzo's coastline is about 8 km long and you can find large white sandy beaches and small little bays. The beach at Pizzo Marina is in 5 minutes walking distance from the old town. The beaches are all public and you can bring your own umbrellas and seats. The beaches at the Marina even have a shower (not common for free public beaches).

You can easily explore everything Pizzo offers in one day. But only when you stay, you realize and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere.

To explore the surrounding, I recommend the following day trips outside Pizzo:
- Eolie Islands (a group of 10 vulcanic islands including Lipari, Panarea and Stromboli) by boat. To embark at Vibo Marina (3 km) or Tropea (25 km).
- Vibo Valentia (10 km), the capital of the province with the same name (VV) and its old castello
- for a change of the beach drive up in the cooler mountain area and visit the monastery of Serra San Bruno
- more mountains: Sila National Park - skiing in winter seems possible!
- Tropea (25 km), which is the 'pearl' of the costa degli dei, coast of Gods. Actually most tourist aim for Tropea and not Pizzo. To me these two cities are like the little ugly duckling and the proud swan. And you can guess what I prefer.

Calabria and Beautiful Flora (part II)

It takes a summer full of sunshine, just enough rain and a mild winter to be surrounded by this beautiful and colourful flora in Calabria in the South of Italy.





Photo from top: pink oleander with blue clematis (?), pink bougainvillea, palm trees with purple bougainvillea

Enjoy the last days of summer. Two more weeks and summer will end officially.

09.09: Buon cumpleanno to my MIL!

Luciano Pavarotti

I am a fan of Pavarotti's voice - to me, the most touching voice on earth. I wanted to bring this divine voice to you in two of the most beautiful songs he ever sang.

Close your eyes and listen

Pavarotti sings 'Caruso'



And one more: Pavarotti sings Nessun Dorma live in Paris

Bravo e Grazie!

Luciano Pavarotti, the singer with the most beautiful and divine voice on earth died this morning at his villa in Modena from cancer, age of 71. For more than 43 years Pavarotti sang in the greatest opera houses in this world. Alone at New York's Met he performed 400 times on stage. He was part of 'The Three Tenors' and also popular for 'Pavarotti & Friends', his cooperation with other artists.

Link:
Official website of Luciano Pavarotti.
American Public Media celebrates the life of Luciano Pavarotti on Performance Today.

Flora of Calabria (part I)

White Oleander

00 Fixings and Faucets

I found the German website Megabad that has resonable prices for Duravit bath fixings and delivers to Italy when the time has come. That means I do not have to buy everything here and now in China and ship it and store it! I am relieved. How to store 6 bathrooms? Where and without disappearing...

I have good experience with several Duravit products. E.g. the toilets from the Serie Starck 1 and Starck 3. The picture left shows the wall mounted compact WC Starck 3 (360cm x 475cm). This fits perfectly small bathrooms and guest toilets. I have them all with WonderGliss surface finish for longterm 'clean and attractive-looking'. It costs 149 Euro (or 193 Euro with WonderGliss) via Megabad.

What is the advantage or disadvantage of a one piece WC? Has anybody experience? Or is it just a matter of space and design? We have thick walls and could mount them all. My husband says it would look nicer. Or should we use a one piece toilet for the masterbathroom like the one in the picture (Duravit Starck 3)?


Regarding the faucets we just love the simple design of META.02 by Dornbracht (see left picture). However, here in China I found some design copies from Beijing based brands that seem not bad either and cost only a fraction.


While the original Dornbracht faucets cost between 170 and 225 Euro via Megabad (depending on what you want), the Chinese one by Boloni cost about 83 Euro and by CIBOL about 60 Euro only (all plus plus pop-up waste, siphon, screws etc.) Left picture shows the faucet by CIBOL.
(Remark: Looking at CIBOL's website, you find a showroom picture looking pretty much like the latest cover of the Duravit brochure. While Boloni has no pictures on their website. Probably they do not want to get into trouble with all the European brands they copy.)

For the sinks I am not sure yet. Too many options:

In my opinion this is the smallest and nicest designed 'one piece double sink' Grand Kanal by Rapsel (110cm x 50cm).

This is another Duravit sink from the 1930 Serie. This would match our iron claw foot bath tub in the masterbathroom. However, we tend to combine the one 'antique' looking bathtub and its matching 'antique' looking faucets with modern classic style fixings and faucets for shower, toilet, bidet and sinks.


More modern but classic would be this Happy D sink with chrome stand from Duravit. Unfortunately the chrome stand is more expensive than the sink and I would need two of it for the masterbathroom. Maybe I find something else.




For my sons tiny bathroom (the one that hangs on the side of the house) I thought about this Vero sink (left picture), still Duravit. It comes in different sizes and I thought about the 500cm x 470cm one. But maybe instead of this edgy sink a curvy sink, like the Happy D, would be better for a children bathroom.

Still so many decisions to make. But one is done.
We bought the iron claw foot bath tub last Saturday here in Beijing. The Chinese brand name is Varro, but somehow it is related to the US brand StThomas. I am not sure if this is their Chinese joint-venture, but Varro definately delivers products to StThomas. So we spend only about one tenth of the price StThomas charges in the US. I hope it does not break after one year!



Links:
The German Brands:
Duravit
Dornbracht
Megabad (online discounter)
The Chinese Brands:
CIBOL
Boloni
Varro