Golden Day 103: Pizzo with Susanne Crosetto of Palazzo Pizzo

Through the miracles of the blogosphere, I have found a true adventurer: Susanne Crosetto. She is German born and married to an Italian, who is from Pizzo, Calabria. They lived in Beijing and now reside in Bangkok, but spend spring and summer in Pizzo. Susanne’s passions are writing, painting, and photography–she has beautiful photographs of Pizzo on her entertaining blog,  that documents the renovation she and her husband did of a 200 year old palazzo,transforming it into Palazzo Pizzo Residence.

The residence is a gem of an accommodation, a one bedroom, beautifully designed, set on the edge of a cliff, with spectacular sunset views from its terrace. 

I am so grateful that Susanne has joined in to share advice for a Golden Day in Pizzo

In Pizzo, life is slow here. You will find time to relax and enjoy the good things in life: food, wine and conversations.

The day starts with a  cappuccino at Bar Belvedere. Piazza della Repubblica, 44, Phone: 0963 531423.

I always bring my visitors first to the Piazza Repubblica of Pizzo. It is the main piazza and Pizzitani call it the living room of Pizzo. If you want to meet someone, you sit down in the piazza and wait until the person you were looking for passes by.

Pizzo has ten churches–many for a small fishing village. The most famous is the church Piedigrotta carved into stone on a beach outside Pizzo. But there are equally interesting and beautiful churches in the historic center.

Next, the beach! It’s a 5 minute walk from the piazza down the alleys to the Marina. The 70 km Calabrian Coast between Pizzo and Nicotera deserves is divine name, “Coast of Gods”, la Costa degli Dei . The crystal clear, turquoise coloured sea is amazing! So activities are swimming, diving, snorkling, boating and fishing. If you visit our residence, we can arrange a trip with our own gozzo type boat, a bit Capri style. 

While swimming in crystal clear waters, you will know it is noon when the church bells ring and “Ave Gloria” music blasts through loud speakers. It feels like heaven, no matter where you are, you know you have arrived in paradise.

About 30 minutes later the natives pack their swim things and leave the beach to prepare lunch at home. Then comes the afternoon nap. 

In the late afternoon you might walk to the piazza again. The best way to discover the centro storico is by strolling the narrow and picturesque alleys.

One activity is to taste Pizzo’s famous tartufo ice cream. It is a ball of chocolate and hazelnut ice cream filled with liquid chocolate and rolled in chocolate powder. There are about 14 to 20 ice cream parlours that sell it–try Bar Gelateria Belvedere (Piazza della Repubblica, 44, 0963531423) and Bar Gelaterie Ercole (Piazza della Repubblica, 18, 0963531149) both in the piazza.

Then you choose among one of the many little restaurants. A very good small one is  San Domenico (Via Colapesce,3491390255), located above la Seggiola. They do not have a menu as the chef cooks the catch of the day and what he found at the local market. It’s slightly more pricey than the usual restaurants in Pizzo, as you will order at least two courses, and only serves dinner, starting around 9 pm. Service is not fast, but dishes creative and tasty. 

We also like La Lampara (Via Marcello Salomone 128, 09631950378), the food is good and I really like the interior decorating. .

If you are looking for something simple and casual, SPQR (Piazza della Repubblica 33, 3279445702) does great pizzas and pastas. 

After dinner, in summer there is entertainment in the piazza until late at night, and you can mingle with the friendly Pizzitani and maybe even try some more tartufo!

As far as a place to stay, besides Palazzo Pizzo Residence, there is only one hotel in the centro storic, Piccolo Grand Hotel. They were named one of the top 10 romantic hotels in Italy by Trip Advisor in 2012!

Grazie mille Susanne! Please save me a place on that terrace!