Vespa Star at the Beach

With the lovely warm days during the past week, it's safe to say that beach season has officially arrived in Molfetta. What says "summer" better than this cheerful light blue Vespa Star parked at the Torre Gavettone beach?

Winter Beach

The Prima Cala beach is much more peaceful and infinitely cleaner during the winter months.

What about those fuzzy trees? Sometimes it seems like all the trees around here come out fuzzy in photos. Olive trees are terribly difficult to photograph (check out that silvery green blur in yesterday's shot) and these Marine pines are no better.

Maybe Molfetta's motto should be "Town of the Fuzzy Trees." No one would back me up on this, I know. Especially since Molfettans call their city the "Paese delle Belle Donne" which means the "Town of Beautiful Women." What would you choose for a motto...beautiful women or fuzzy trees?

Aerial Views of Molfetta - Beach Clubs

Another aerial view...this time of the coastline south of town. In this photo you can see three of the private beach clubs I have shown in other posts this summer. The orange and blue umbrellas belong to Cala Arena, in the center of the photo is the Nautilus Beach Club and at the top of the photo is the Lafayette Hotel and Beach Club.

Lifeguard at Work

The lifeguard's work is never done. Setting up and taking down beach umbrellas and chairs, emptying the trash cans, changing the little flag from white to red when the seas get too rough, keeping the beach free of garbage, even saving lives from time to time! Here Alessandro is moving stones from one part of the beach to another to create the perfect surface for walking down to the sea.

Seashell on the Seashore

Beach Closed

I've got those "end of March-can't wait for summer" blues pretty bad these days. The warmer weather is almost here...but still just out of reach...and it feels like I'll be wearing my winter coat *forever*!

Prima Cala...deserted

This is the only decent beach left within city limits. In the summer it is jam-packed with sunbathers and swimmers. In the past it was clean and only *too* crowded on August weekends. But it has been literally garbage-strewn for the past two years. People don't tend to clean up after themselves and the city garbage department has not been doing its job very well.

It's nice to see it clean and empty.

Global Warming

The beaches of Molfetta are full of living creatures. All kinds of sea plants and animals proliferate along our coast. Unfortunately, with the increased temperature of the sea in the past couple of years a toxic tropical seaweed has started growing. It's called "ostreopsis" and it grows in calm, hot sea water. It releases its toxins on windy days when the waves break the alghe on the rocks and causes all kinds of health problems, such as irritated eyes, blisters, colds, coughs, fevers and rashes. Global warming doesn't seem like such an abstract concept when you can't spend a relaxed day at the sea any more...

Where's the beach?

In Molfetta, the number one summertime activity is going to the beach. Anyone who CAN spends at least part of every day there...housewives, mothers, children, students, people on their lunch break or day off. For many it's what they do all day every day during the "bella stagione" - the "beautiful season." It took me a long time to get used to the Molfetta beach concept...look, no sand! So, where's the beach? But, I learned that, in fact, one doesn't go to the "beach" here, but to the "sea"...and that makes all the difference. Along the Adriatic coast there are sand beaches, beaches of small stones, or, as in Molfetta, beaches of "scogli" which I struggle to translate, but let's say "flat rocks." So, you either join a lido (private beach club) where they provide you with chairs and umbrellas, or you bring your own chair, or you do your best to find a flatish place to spread your towel out on...trying to avoid sharp rocks poking you in sensitive soft spots!