Porticciolo di Giovinazzo

Another nice summer evening stroll is through the historic center of nearby Giovinazzo (6K south of Molfetta). The old town, "porticciolo" (small harbour) and seafront promenade are dotted with restaurants, pizzerias, bars and ice-cream shops.

Molfettan Faces - Lucio

Lucio doesn't really count as a "Molfettan" face since he was born and raised in Giovinazzo, the next town down the Adriatic coast. But, he is married to a Molfettan woman so that kind of makes him Molfettan by proxy.

He is an ex-bank director who is currently working on a project to open a new bank. His hobbies include gardening, collecting watches and taking afternoon naps. In this photo he is eating, with great relish, a crab cooked in tomato sauce.

To the Sea

An unpaved road leading down to a beach on the sea between Molfetta and Giovinazzo.

Giovinazzo in the Distance

From the end of the Lungomare there's a pretty good view of the Giovinazzo skyline, six kilometers south of Molfetta. Between the two towns lie several public and private beaches which are heavily populated in the summer months.

If you enlarge the photo, and look at the tip of land that extends furthest out into the sea, you can see the bell towers of the Giovinazzo cathedral, built in the 1100s. My husband and I were married in the cathedral's crypt.

Crane City

Wherever you go around Molfetta, if you look up you will see a crane. This is particularly true on the outskirts of town, all the way around the town. Construction of new buildings was basically completely blocked in Molfetta for about 30 years. This led to major price hikes on the existing homes. As a result, many young couples just getting started in life had to leave Molfetta, moving to neighbouring towns like Giovinazzo, Terlizzi and Bisceglie. This in turn drove up the housing costs in those towns.

Luckily a couple of years ago the problem was resolved and the building of new apartment complexes commenced. Hundreds are being put up all around the perimeter of town and even in those few empty spaces in town.

This means that many families are moving back to Molfetta. Others who have been making due in tiny inadequate apartments just for the cnvenience of staying in town are finally able to move into more reasonably sized ones. Not that they are large or cheap...the average new apartment is 100 sq. meters and costs around €300,000.

p.s. Just a curiosity...the word for crane in Italian is "gru" which means both the construction tool and the bird, the same as in English.

Renzo Arbore

The annual patron's saint festival in Giovinazzo (6k south of Molfetta) was crowned with a concert by Renzo Arbore and his Italian Orchestra. Arbore is a great musician and ironical humourist whose group travel Italy and the world performing the best-loved songs from the Neapolitan repetoire. They also mix in jazz, swing, scat, reggae, you name it.

This concert was special because it was also a fundraiser for Luca Mongelli, a 13 year old boy from Giovinazzo. When he was 7 his family lived in Switzerland. One day, while he was playing outside, he was attacked and left for dead in the snow. Luckily, his mother found him, but Luca was in a coma for 3 months and the doctors had all but given up hope on him when he woke up. He is now blind and confined to a wheelchair, but has made great progress thanks to special treatment available only in the US. Renzo Arbore donated €50,000 of the proceeds from last night's concert to Luca's family.

Information on how to help Luca can be found at this link. It's all in Italian, but I'd be happy to help anyone needing a translation.

p.s. here's some music by Renzo Arbore and the Italian Orchestra...