2024 summer road trip – Capena diary

When I first arrived in Capena, I wished I’d spent a few more days exploring Tarquinia, enjoying the beach and nice bars.

But wasn’t long before I settled back down into Capena life, warts and all.

Back on the Rocca

I stayed for just over a fortnight at Stefania’s house inside a sixteenth century monastery on Capena’s Rocca or ancient stronghold, where I used to own my own place until I moved to Portugal.

Stefania sadly has Alzheimer’s and can’t live independently any more, but her son Massimiliano rents her place on Airbnb. It’s made up of three huge open-plan levels and very familiar to me from evenings spent eating Stefania’s delicious food and watching her shouting at politicians on the TV.

Eating and drinking

The little pop-up bar in the square that used to be run haphazardly by a couple of friends I like to think of as the Beavis and Butthead (or Laurel and Hardy) of Capena has disappeared. Rosina bought it and gave it to her husband’s ex-girlfriend. Don’t ask – it’s Capena!

Now one of the bungling duo has taken over the original bar (that used to be run in exemplary fashion by Gabila and Sandro) but things aren’t going very well. He hasn’t put out any outdoor seating and is usually to be seen gazing in perplexity at the cash register, propped cadaverously against the door smoking or bemoaning the fact that he’s run out of wine. He only seems to buy one bottle a day for customers and has little visible stock of anything else. He’s definitely out of his depth.

Meanwhile, his friend has set up a tavola calda selling ready-made hot food in the new part of town and doesn’t seem to be doing much better. He never seems to be open for a start. Probably because he’s always down in the square inculcating his friend into the mysteries of the cash register.

Big Ali and Felllicino have closed down, along with the ice cream shop, so thank goodness for Club Buonavita, La Taverna dei Viaggatori and Il Buco del Vino, now thriving in new premises.

Il Buco del Vino is definitely my favourite friendly aperitivo spot, but if you’re feeling hungry you can’t beat Bar Centrale’s offering of an aperol spritz complete with a feast of nibbles for Eur 4.

Pizza club

I’d hardly arrived in Capena before I was invited to join the Pizza Club, a motley selection of older residents that has gelled around Rosina, who likes to eat very early. I managed to get along to three pizza evenings at the Taverna dei Viaggatori during my stay. Very little is said and everyone is home by 8.30, but it’s still very convivial.

Donkeys

Rosina is still working hard at 85 and has now shifted her focus from her trademark cats to donkeys.

Francellini, the best bakery in town, loves the donkeys and has installed two at its shops.

Village life

The old football ground has been repurposed for the nth time and now houses a basketball court, sitting out area and kids playground. A communal outdoor dinner with band was in full swing the first weekend I arrived.

The longer I stayed, the more familiar faces I bumped into and it was great to sit out in the square and simply pass the time of day, or night.

Cooling off

It was just under 40 degrees most days, so the only thing to do was head for water or swelter.

Lake Martignano

On my last day, Meg arrived from Portugal and we went for an amazing meal at Agriturismo Il Casale followed by a swim on the dog beach.

Cats

There seem to be more cats than ever in Capena this year – all looking very sleek and well fed.

I inadvertently hosted a half-grown kitten that fell through Stefania’s open skylight. It stayed on the top floor for two or three days, then ventured down to my level when it got hungry enough to overcome its fear. I eventually managed to eject it at about 2 am one night, when it got too exhausted to hide.

Rome

I couldn’t spend a fortnight in Capena without at least one trip to Rome, so I duly drove to Saxa Rubra station on the outskirts and caught the little train into the centre.

Unfortunately, when I got back to the station, my car’s passenger window had been smashed. There wasn’t anything of value in the car, but getting a replacement window fitted before I left Capena on Sunday looked unlikely.

Luckily Teresa rang round and managed to find the only car window specialist in Rome with a left side Volvo C30 window in stock. Then Gabila let me park in the Wachtmeister family’s secure car park until I could get it fixed the following day.

Hot work

I’d hoped to go to the village wine festival, usually planned for the second week in July, but this year it’s been postponed to September because the old town square, Piazza del Popolo, is being resurfaced.

I had a bird’s eye view of the work in progress.

Every morning, the workers clocked on at 6.30 so they could finish work before temperatures climbed to 39-40 degrees in the afternoon.

With Michael Moseley and others meeting their ends in the heat this summer, I was concerned for the workmen.

It seems that Italians are no more immune to extreme heat than anyone else, with 18,000 killed by the heat in 2022. This article about French and other European workers forced to labour in the sun also came out while I was in Capena.

More art

Just time to buy a pendant from Nina, and we were on our way to Puglia by way of Calitri, Matera and Alberobello…