One Last Whirl Through Sperlonga

We’ll soon be leaving this enchanting little town. It’s been everything and more than I imagined.

But I can’t tear myself away quite yet. There are a few more things to see. Put on your walking shoes and ramble around with Gino and me for one last whirl around Sperlonga.

Watch your step!

Did you notice the blue door? 

This red is certainly different!

Come up this way!

There’s Gino. I wonder what he’s found.

Definitely Greekish.

More blue!

I wonder who wears these? (I bet he’s cute!)

Kitty cat startled me!

This is the best way to dry your clothes.

Hmmm…I wonder what’s up here…

Or down here…Hey! That’s Gino!

He found this quaint little passageway — so steep and slippery, at times, that you need to hang onto these ropes!

See what I mean?

Pretty pretty pretty Sperlonga.

So many creative details.

There were several blue doors,
another similarity to Greece.

You know I’m going through here.

My reward!

Are you getting tired yet?

Looks like someone is ready for the beach.
(Doesn’t he look guilty?!)

It’s all worth the effort, though.

Don’t you agree?

For now, we’re going to leave Sperlonga and descend to that luscious, golden sand just below. No, not to swim (at least, not me), but to head straight to that mysterious grotto that Tiberius built.

It’s there, on the far end of the beach.

And now, down to the beach.
Andiamo!

 

Sperlonga: The Mural With A Story

Sperlonga has had its troubles.

In the 9^th century, the town suffered raids by the Saracens. During medieval times, the infamous pirate Barbarossa attacked the town. One hundred years later, the Turks took it over. (Later, celebrities and tourists overran the town, but that’s another story.)

I knew that somewhere hidden among the warren of tiny alleys was a miniature piazza – too tiny to even be a piazzetta – where one wall has a vividly painted mural depicting the worst day in Sperlonga’s history: August 8, 1534. This was the day that Barbarossa sacked Sperlonga, pillaging and destroying everything in his path.

We came upon a tiny courtyard and realized, this was it!

It’s right through this little pathway.
You can see parts of it on the left side.

See how small?

The mural was tucked inside a space so narrow I was unsuccessful in getting a panoramic photo of the entire thing.

So I resigned myself to getting only segments of it.

The scenes were quite descriptive.

And included written explanations of that fateful day.

This was my favorite part.

I did climb up some steep stairs in an attempt to get a good angle from there.

But to no avail.

However, I did get this great shot of Gino down there.

Lunch At Gli Archi Ristorante

There weren’t a lot of places open since Sperlonga’s high tourist season had passed. For example, this looked like it would have been a nice place to eat.

Ristorante La Siesta this way.

It had a cute name and a lovely, characteristic atmosphere. But no one was there.

I guess they were all taking a siesta.

This store sign shows a talking gelato cone.
“I can’t go in,” it says.
The rest of it implores,”courteously,” not to bring in any kind of food or drink. If we had some, we wouldn’t.
But we were looking.

We considered sitting here, but there was no table.

And this seat was already occupied.

Eventually we stumbled upon a little place hidden down some steep steps.

The giveaway was the lone table sitting outside halfway down.

This was Gli Archi Ristorante, a wonderful little family-run restaurant that serves only food in season.

The back of the menu must have been translated by Google Translate. But you get the idea.

The outside of the restaurant was very plain.

But the inside was not.

The dining room was beautiful,
but we still wanted to sit outside on that lone table.

The table seemed to be on a relatively flat spot so we claimed it.

Somebody’s ready to eat!

Patience, Gino!

Wine and vinegar.
And there goes Gino, getting into the act again.

Our waiter was a quirky, little old man. He didn’t speak a lot, or even smile a lot, but I thought he was very sweet.

The food was spectacular (which had nothing to do with me liking the waiter).

A fresh salad.

Prosciutto and melon. Yum!

Handmade pasta with calamari.

Have a bite! It’s yummy!

Gino’s pasta.

It doesn’t look like he plans on sharing his.

But at least he’ll give you a toast!

At the end of the meal, the waiter gave us our bill tucked into a large, beautiful card. The front of the card was a stunning watercolor of the outside of the restaurant.

This looks much better than my flat photo.

You can find Gli Archi Ristorante for yourself on Via Ottaviano 17 in the centro storico.

Sperlonga: A Closer Look

The décor outside many of the houses was quite whimsical and creative.

Clay pots and painted tiles were stuck to walls, spilling over with green plants and flowers.

This is so pretty!

Shells, cactus plants, and other items were clustered near the doorsteps or glued into the walls.

Isn’t this one fun? (I told you in the last post there was definitely a Mediterranean beach theme going on.)

Aren’t these two pots below great?

And then there were random things. Like these:

A large clock on one of the walls.

A colorful tiled sign advertising fruit and vegetables.

This wonderful Madonna shrine.

A cute painting inside a niche.

A very personalized mail box.

This crusty door handle.

These gorgeously tiled steps.

Whew! After all that, how about some lunch?

Sperlonga To Ourselves

M-m-m-m-m-m!

After indulging in a creamy cappuccino, we dove into the warren of tiny, narrow alleys that zigged and zagged up and down throughout the town.

Can you see why you can eat all the pasta you want and not gain weight?

This one’s worth a double scoop of gelato.

No need for a gym membership in Sperlonga.

EEK!

Not many people were around today, but I could see how this place was very likely a mountain of activity in the summer.

I’d read that it was really popular with vacationing Italians. But today, we pretty much had it to ourselves.

I wanted to clamber down every flight of steps, dip into every hidden corner, follow each tiny path.

Gino said I did. But he was glad that I urged us on. Every corner brought some new vision.

This is the ceiling of a tiny covered piazza.

OK, so I had to slip in a couple of doors. Indulge me.

Someone has their work cut out for them.

Many of the stairs looked mossy like these.

So now you can see why Sperlonga is characterized as looking more Greek or North African than Italian. Regardless, the wall decor was distinctively Mediterranean beach. Let’s have a look.