What the hell am I doing in Crotone!
Crotone was not the oddest Italian city I’ve ever been but it was very close.
I have seen some weird towns while attending culinary school in Italy. Especially while transferring between trains, the silent and solitary train stations, empty towns hidden behind a dense mist with a single church on its central plaza surrou118nded by desolate streets inhabited by one or two nutcases… Yet this is one of the reasons that I love my life! Not the dilemma of walking or taking a cab from Teşvikiye to Nişantaşı, the fullest districts in Istanbul but one day drinking champagne in a crowded city while the other day trying to find my way in a dark isolated street at a town that I have never dreamed of visiting. Che la vita!
Crotone is such a place. A town so irrelevant that you will not visit for a vacation. A town we will probably pass if our boat did not broke down in the middle of Adriatic. It is located between the sole and the heels of Italian boot nicknamed Lo Stivale. Moreover this is the second time I am visiting this town. The first time was months ago and we took shelter here because of the bad weather conditions. And this time because our motors turned itself of. Maybe I have to rephrase this: If our boat’s motor did not break down, if I was not a yacht chef, if I was not working on this boat, if my boyfriend had not left me, if I had not studied in Italy, if I had not fallen in love with an Italian, if I had better roles as an actress, if I had been able to enter to the conservatory, if my father had not named me Deniz (sea), then what would I do in Crotone? Therefore the only explanation that I am here in Crotone right now is fate!
This is an unattractive town. Besides one or two churches, some narrow centuries old streets, a little bit of shops and a little bit of houses. Not to mention old Italians inhabiting the streets and Pakistani – Syrian homeless who threw their beds into the parks…
The sole thing I liked about Crotone is its public bazaar open every day till 13:00. Everything you are looking for is there. The best fruits, the freshest fish, locale sauces in jars upon jars, salted food, various pickles and magnificently delicious Italian cheeses… And to top it all, two-three restaurants… This is what I like most about Italy. No matter how damp and dirty the town is, no matter how much the immigrants been let in, no matter how insufficient the town can get in terms of sightseeing, you can always find small restaurants serving delicious food. The best part is insides of these restaurants are not at all like the town it’s in. No matter how cheap they are, the restaurants are always good. The wines are not bad. They serve the best fresh food in town on snow white table cloths, they serve wine in old crystal clean glasses while you sit on exquisite wooden chairs. One of these restaurants was named as “Carlo 5″. The prices were cheap being close to ludicrous. The starters are 7 €, main courses are between 10 to 12 € and the side dishes are just 3€!
We ate very delicious fresh food in a restaurant that if we ordered the whole menu we would pay just maximum 200€ and of course with red wine… Afterwards, setting sail again at 02:00 on our repaired boat…