Oh I do like to be beside the seaside

The nets are ready to catch the fish of the day

Even the swans will venture onto the sea when it is calm

The bagnosciuga

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside

Oh I do like to be beside the sea

I like to stroll along

The prom prom prom

With the brass band playing

Tiddly om pom pom

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside

Oh I do like to be beside the sea

Beside the seaside

Beside the sea

In Italy as in Britain it is quite easy to go to the sea just for the day.  You just have to be a bit lucky with the traffic and you can be on the beach within an hour. I was nine the first time I came to Italy and saw the vast expanse of white soft sand with the waves gently lapping the shore which was so different from the beaches at home. I stood in my school swimsuit with my white British skin and looked at the Italian young people in awe.

Apart from all that sometimes I just have to go the sea, I yearn for it. The moment We get near the seaside, see the seagulls gathering around and the fishing in the nets in the distance my shoulders relax and a great sense of well being runs through me. 

Today we arrived at lunch time and so first things first , we had a typical Italian seaside lunch of fritto misto, mixed fried fish, mixed salad, patatine fritte and prosecco. Then a quick shot of espresso and a long walk along the beach on the bagnosciuga , which means the wet and dry, because of the waves coming in and out just enough to wet the sand at the edge.

When eventually we lay down on the sand and I closed my eyes I revelled in those wonderful familiar seaside feelings. The sun on your skin, the sea breeze in your hair, the sound of the sea and the wind, the feel if the soft sand and the salty smell of the air. Lying there with my eyes shut I could feel all my favourite seaside places around me.

The Italian Adriatic coast stretches for miles 

Fritto misto with prosecco is a typical lunch by the sea