The Italian summer

It goes without saying that summer is most people’s favourite season but in Calabria summer transforms the place.

Around May the transformation begins as sleepy villages start gearing up for the summer. Gyms suddenly become busy as the quest for the bikini body begins.  The cambio stagione (where wardrobes are restocked with summer clothes and jumpers are put into storage) brings with it a change in attitude and people start surfacing from their winter hibernation.
It is July and August when Calabria really comes into itself. Towns and villages buzz with tourists and businesses thrive. Beaches start to fill up and the ever-precious beach umbrellas inch closer and closer together.

As bodies bronze and clothes are stripped away, it’s the time for me to lament my English heritage. Instead of a deep olive shade I turn pomodoro red. My skin does have a sense of humour; it embraces my italian lifestyle by resembling a caprese salad, either pomodoro red or mozzarella white. My hair won’t be tamed and rather than looking like a mermaid I look like a sea monster.

Evenings become endless with bedtimes being shifted from midnight to dawn. The squares are full of music and chatter. Food festivals erupt in neighbouring towns.  Granita and gelato become a way of life.

It’s terrible, don’t come here, I beg you. 😉