Bagnara Calabra, My Kind of Town

          One of my all time favorite places in southern Italy is Bagnara. It' a little town, situated in a  little bay on the tyrrhenian side of the Mediterranean, just north of Reggio. It's a very "down to earth" fishing town (nothing fancy-shmancy) and they are renowned for their skill in catching swordfish (pesce spada). The men do the fishing, but the woman are famous for running the economy there. They even have a statue in the main piazza honoring the bagnarese women. (You gotta love that girls.) They are also renowned for a special Christmas torrone (candy) they make called torroncini. My father-in-law, Salvatore, would take the train there every year to buy it. So now my husband is continuing the tradition and buys it each year, too.(Yum)

        They have a beautiful port for all the fishing boats, a main drag in town with all the shops and cafes, a long promenade along the water front, and tons of beaches. 

Statue of a woman selling a basket of fish.

The port in Bagnara

A view of Bagnara

Last summer at the Long finned tuna festival.

           We go there often when we're there for the summer. Lay on the beach during the day and then stay for the evening. They make great pizza and there's always a different festival going on in the evenings. The swordfish festival (La Festa del Pesce Spada), the long-finned tuna festival,  the fried fish festival, even the ice cream festival!(La Festa del Gelato)  They'll block off a street or a piazza, cook the food outside, and for a few bucks, you get a delicious authentic meal. There's usually traditional music and/or dancers, too.

Grilling the tuna.

The ceramic goblet we got with our wine.

Traditional dancers.

Woman selling and cleaning the fish, "La Spatola" on the promenade.

Fisherman bringing in a swordfish!

 Swordfish fishing is kind of sad. They say in Italy that they mate for life, so the fishermen know that if they catch the one the other won't leave the area without it's mate, and eventually it's caught too. (Another Italian romantic tragedy) They eat tons of it in southern Italy, even though it's very high in mercury and supplies are dwindling.

Our favorite beach cafe in Bagnara.

 They don't speak much English there, but the Bagnarese people are friendly and cordial and I always get a positive vibe there.( Must be cause the woman are in charge) Who knows? But for me it's definitely at the top of my list of places to retire one day!

Another beautiful sunset in Bagnara.