Europe Fall 2024 - Son of Ortona - Not A Keeper...Or Is It?

Is Ortona going to be a place we come back to? Will it be a place we find comfortable to spend weeks?

For the last couple of days the answer has seemed to be 'No'. It simply is missing too many of the factors that have made our top cities (El Campello, Spain; Cefalú, Sicily) our choices. Let's look at those factors. (Please note, neither of our top choices meet all these criteria!)

1. A long, easy to access walkway following the ocean with a reasonable uninterrupted view.
2. Access to the actual beach to walk along the water.
   
3. A city that is walkable, with easy access to shopping, particularly food shopping by foot.
4. A culture that is somewhat friendly to expats, foreigner without being over-the-top touristy.
5. Has a Medieval Old Town that offers the stimulation of a different 'vibe' when you walk through it.
6. Has a number of options for short-term rental housing that has sea views.
7. Can be used as a base for exploring other areas/sites beyond

 As we have explored Ortona in more depth, it is missing quite a bit of what we want. 

• There is a walkway with uninterrupted ocean view but it is not that long and it does not have beach access.
• The city is highly walkable, but there is nowhere near the kind of shopping our top two cities have.
• The culture does not seem to be particularly open to the expat/tourist segment.
• The Old Town is not Medieval and is not that interesting.
• There seem to be very few options for housing with views of the ocean.
• It would be a good base for exploring other parts of Italy.

So why are we still considering it?

1. We really would love to find a place in Italy proper (not Sicily) and this is the closest we've come.
2. We've found one small area that might get close to what we want pending our finding the possibility of housing.
3. It could be a place we come for a couple of weeks, not a month.
4. There are precious few other options we've found!

Tomorrow, we're meeting with some people who are managing our Airbnb. I hope to find out for certain if the kind of rental property we need is feasible. That will be a make it or break it piece of information.

In the meantime...

Harbor Pictures

It was a very grim, grey, and potentially rainy day. It eventually came down in a downpour that lasted hours. Fortunately we were able to drive down to the harbor and take some pictures.

Looking up at the city from the harbor

Ye Olde St. Thomas...WITH pigeon!

Working harbor shots

Looking up to the Aragonese Castle

Mandatory Lighthouse shot