Santa Domenica Talao
Ciao Belli People!
For whatever reason there has been renewed interest in the story of the Calabrian Ceramic Chicken Challenge. Apparently this is a story that will live forever because people always want to hear about it.
Here is the story:
Several years ago I had a wild hair (I have a head full of them!) and decided that I wanted a place to run away to. It had to be someplace relatively exotic and far away. It had to be someplace with a view of the sea, rich culture, amazing food and people that I love to hang around.
I started researching where I could find such a place. I looked in Greece and although the prices were favorable for real estate, down right cheap to be exact, there were many restrictions that made it undesirable for an American to purchase there.
Still, I was taken with the Mediterranean and decided that I wanted something there.
I started looking further afield.
I looked at Southern France and Italy. Southern France, though lovely was pricey as was all of the area around the Cinque Terra and the Amalfi Coast in Italy.
I looked in the province of Puglia in where they had those cute Trulli. Unfortunately, everyone else thought the trulli were adorable and bought them which increased the price dramatically.
Right about that time, I was watching House Hunters International. (This link takes you to the site of Tony Hackett who is the realtor. You can scroll down and see the episode.)
On one of the programs, they featured an American school teacher who had purchased a place in a tiny hilltop village in Calabria Italy.
The scenery there was stunning. The food was Italian (I don’t need to say more on that) . Her place was gorgeous and the prices were affordable.
I watched the program about 20 times and sent an email to the agent. He sent me back photos of several beautiful properties that were available.
Shortly thereafter, I shoved my husband on a plane and we were off house hunting in Southern Italy.
During our stay there, we were treated to a whirlwind tour of the villages surrounding the beach resort town of Scalea.
Lisa at the market in Scalea
The agent who took us around allowed us to get the flavor of each of the surrounding villages. We looked at so many houses that I can’t remember all of them.
Finally, we visited the village of Santa Domenica Talao.
Santa Domenica
This was it. we fell in love with the village, the people and the beautiful apartment in a centuries old building that had recently been updated.
When we walked into the apartment, we were struck by the light. It poured in from every side. The living area was huge and a large set of French windows opened out to a balcony from which you got a panoramic view of the sea, the mountains, and the village.
We decided right then that this was the place. We put the wheels of Italian real estate commerce in motion and a few months later were suddenly property owners. Hilariously, the house we picked is the third house Michelle looks at in the video! ( I thanked her for not picking that house but hers is gorgeous!)
When we went over to complete the purchase, we had one blissful day in our new place.
Our house
From that balcony, we have watched storms gather over the Mediterranean. We have watched the sky, black with swallows as they dip and dive and rid the air of mosquitoes. We have watched fat raindrops and sweltering summer days fold into gorgeous summer evenings with the sweet sound of people in their individual universes making dinner, talking or playing cards.
Santa Domenica Talao
We have made conversation with our neighbors and watched the lady downstairs take care of her aging father, sitting him out in the sun in the morning and preparing meals for him at her sink by the window in the evening.
We have heard the concertina being played by the little boy who avidly practices daily and plays whenever there is an event in the piazza. I could go on but you get the point. Life in a Southern Italian village is as close to Heaven as you can find on this earth.
This has become my favorite place on the planet and I run there whenever I can.
But what about the ceramic chicken challenge?
Well, after we bought the apartment, I took a group of friends and family members over to stay with me.
Weirdly, I thought that they might get bored (Yeah, like the Mediterranean beaches, shopping, amazing Italian food and fun people would be dull!)
Stunning view in Maratea
So I came up with a type of scavenger hunt.
In that House Hunters International episode, I had caught sight of a ceramic chicken in one of the homes featured. I took it into my head that in order to have a real Italian house, I had to have a ceramic chicken.
So, my guests were invited to hit the streets and locate one. The person finding the best one won a prize. We scoured the entire area. We became obsessed!
What I didn’t realize was that there are no ceramic chickens seemingly anywhere in Calabria!
The only one we could find was a weird chicken thing that had lettuce for wings (Yeah, I don’t get it either).
No one could locate a single ceramic chicken that made any sense whatsoever!
Soooooo we finally bought the lettucy chicken and gave up the search.
My sister Karen, the next year, won the ceramic chicken challenge hands down when she blatantly violated the rules and brought one from Rome.
Bella Roma, Home of the winning chicken
I have to hand it to her. It is a gorgeous chicken and she gets extra kudo points for schlepping it all the way from Rome on the train. That is dedication to a cause, so she wins now and forever.
Ceramic chicken in transit
So n
(disclaimer, this is a generic ceramic chicken, not the winning chicken, just thought you should know.)
So there is the story of the ceramic chicken challenge. Since it was such a huge hit, I thought we should open it up to all of Italy. If you are bumping around Italy any time in the next year, send me a pic of your best ceramic chicken and let’s see who wins the prize. Winner gets my burrito stub from last night (Kidding, it will be something good but I haven’t figured out the prize yet.)
The post The Calabrian Ceramic Chicken Challange appeared first on Chasing La Bella Vita.