It rained in the night, and the weather for the whole day looks quite unsettled. There are predicted to be clearing periods, so we decide to give the Bike Fridays a day off and explore Amantea as much as weather permits. We plan to walk down to the beach for a look, and definitely to climb up the hill to explore the old city. The new town, sprawled along a thin strip of flat land along the sea, is where all the commercial activity is - including our hotel and the restaurant we dined at last night; but it’s frankly uninspiring. The old city though, a few hundred feet above us, definitely looks worth a look.
The ridge behind Amantea is crowned with an array of intriguing structures.
Our hotel, L’Amantia, isn’t operating on all cylinders this early in the season. We’re nearly the only guests, and there’s minimal staff coverage. They don’t offer breakfast yet, but give us chits for a patisserie down the street. We walk down and are pleased with the pastries and coffee served up to us. Breakfasts here in Calabria seem different from Sicily, and more to our taste. The cornatis aren’t jammed with huge servings of goop, and the coffee is served more in the French style, with a separate small pitcher of steamed milk.
After breakfast we head down to the beach for a short walk. It’s a long, attractive pebble beach, and we have it all to ourselves this morning. Afterwards we walk over to the train station to stare at schedules - tomorrow looks really foul, and we’re preparing for the possibility of catching the train to our next stop, up the coast at Diamante.
Amantea’s beach is littered with a few small boats, but they’re just for show. The fishing industry petered out here years ago, and it’s all tourism now.
I wish I’d had the zoom already fired up when this flock of about fifty egrets flew past. Still, it’s not bad - you can at least definitely tell they’re egrets.
When it threatens rain we head back to our rooms for the remainder of the morning, waiting for a clearing window expected in the afternoon. At about one when we head out again, it is sunny, warm, and beautiful. For the whole rest of the afternoon it remains fine, and was a large enough window that we could have gone for the day ride we had planned after all. We’re content with the new plan though, and start climbing up the hill with a sense of anticipation at what we might find.
What we find astonishes both of us. We hadn’t really been sure of what to expect - information on Amantea is pretty limited - but it is a fantastic place, presenting us with one delightful surprise after another. We spent all afternoon exploring the convoluted streets of the old town, wandering down one dead ended street after another trying (and finally succeeding) to find our way up above town to the castle and other ruins that crown the ridge.
We’ve been very favorably impressed with our time in Calabria so far. Scilla, then Tropea, and now this. All three towns rank high on our list of favorites for the tour, but we think Amantea tops the others. A great place, with an undiscovered feel this early in the season. We hardly saw another sole all afternoon.
The castle dates back to the Norman era, and was built on a Byzantine foundation. The structure to the right is the ruins of Saint Francis of Assisi church, dating back to the 13th or 14th century.
So this is getting to be a lengthy post, especially for a day with no biking in it. Unfortunately, we’re not quite done here. We really should say something about the excellent dinner we enjoyed at Locanda di Mare. We have three dishes to show you, but really should have shown you the delicious bocconotto we were served as a complementary desert.
Yes, we liked Amantea very much. We think you might too.
My starter was a typical Amantean plate: marinaded sardines, stuffed sardines, and monacelle.
