In the small town of Salerno, wine flows from the walls. Italy pt.3...

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Visiting the Amalfi Coast, we didn't want to spend a hefty sum of our travel expenses on our accommodation, so we decided to stay in Salerno, and make travels each day to the different cities. But before we made our excursions to nearby beaches, we decided to take a tour around the city of Salerno and explore what this small town had to offer.

Staying in an airbnb close to the ferries that went to and from Positano our room was rather close to everything. By foot we decided to venture out to the ports to see check the ocean view before we headed out for dinner.

Traveling in May, the weather was still cool, and the temperature changed drastically depending on whether the sun was out. Luckily for us, the sun was out quite often during our stay in the coast and it peaked out between the blanket of white clouds to warm the town.

The ocean, so calm, extended out infinitely towards the horizon disappearing as it met the sky. The serene and tranquil waters gracefully flowed without a trace of any disturbance in sight.

Standing out on the rails of the port, we breathed in the salty sea air and strolled along the promenade wondering what it would be like to live next to the sea.

As we took one last peak at the ocean, before heading over for dinner, we fell in love with Italy in another light. Rome had its history and its St.Regis luxury, but the Amalfi coast had its tranquility and the nature of becoming one with the sea.

Pazza Marea

In light of being next to waters, we kept to the theme and found ourselves stumbling across a local seafood restaurant. At first, we hesitated in front as we didn't speak a word of Italian, and in Salerno, English is rarely spoken by the people who live here. Outside of Rome, Italian is a must when going to smaller cities.

The place seemed quite empty, so we didn't expect much for the dinner here.

I wasn't wowed by their interior, rather their idea of recreating the image of a fishing boat by hanging nets were quite distracting. Not my cup of tea.

The menu was short, with only 1 page to read, but none in English (facepalm). With our hand gestures, and our google translation (thank heavens), we asked them for their recommendation. The waitress' spoke in Italian, trying to explain different menus listed, but pointed towards "Spuzzulia." We googled and found out that this is a tasting menu of sorts where the kitchen brings out its best dishes. A variety of menus at a cheap price of 14 Euros? Count us in, it's a done deal for us.

On top of that we paid a CHEAP 2 euros for this wonderful experience of drinking wine from the wall.
Let me explain :

You receive a small note that has the instructions. As stated, you carry your pitcher and head over to the fountain.
Nope not this fountain, this one is for water.
Correct fountain. Two taps, left is red, and right is white.
Since we're having seafood, we took white. Oh and did I mention, its unlimited flow of wine for 2 euros. I love this city.

Now that you have your wine ready, your meals are served.
First come the appetizers. All of which was so deliciously cooked, and all from the sea! The highlight of them all was those fish balls which had a chewy texture to it. Oh and you might be wondering why we have red wine instead of my previously mentioned white.. We finished the white before the appetizers were served..

Cooked tuna with a vegetable puree of some sort, which was also another highlight of this meal. All of these menus, were unfamiliar to us, and we just couldn't stop being amazed by the creations served! We undermined the place at first glance, quickly to take it back and rejoice at our perfect selection for our dinner here at Pazza Marea.

Our main dishes were mussel and tomato, and pasta. Usually I would refuse to eat mussels, because of their tendency to smell fishy if not kept fresh. But these were as fresh as live catches from the sea. Never have I enjoyed mussels to this extent before. ever.

Thought we were at the end of our meal, but nope, these guys wanted to make sure customers left happily with their Spuzzulia menu. Each of us were served pan fried fish with tempura fried vegetables. Already very full from the other dishes, we took our time eating this last dish.

Salerno, offered a 'real' meal, with no frills on their plate nor their price. Pazza Marea, truly value for money restaurant. 14 euros was too cheap as the quality was top notch.