Our hostel host recommended Piazza Marina as the ‘area’ to go to for bars and restaurants. Market by day, the squared area apparently comes alive at night, so after seeking down fellow travellers to accompany me (no-one wants to drink alone, do they?!) we were on our way. Sam (from Chicago) had mentioned tracking down some aperitif. These are bars which offer free food with your drinks. Too good to be true right?!
Ready to party!
We decided to stop at a bar 200m away from our hostel, on Via Dante (name coming soon) and although empty, I spotted free food and made the mistake of crossing the threshold inside. We were immediately welcomed and promised all sorts of delights, including pizza – I was sold. For only 4 euros, we enjoyed a cold glass of vino secco (dry white wine) and helped ourselves to a selection from the buffet. I had some cold chunks of cheese and meat, olives, bruschetta and nearly spat out something that tasted very close to anchovy. The pizza arrived, but it had a Bianca base and was cold and too crispy by the time we got it.
The food was a LOT better than it looks!
We hopped into a taxi to Piazza Marina and amazingly, ended up directly outside Schiticchio. I’d read a review about it being great for aperitif so was excited to try it out. Situated on the edge of a market square, it looked very European with its outside seating and twicker chairs and lighting. There were bushes surrounding the bar’s outside area too. We ordered our drinks inside, where it cost 5 euros for any drink with the buffet selection. Another white wine in hand, I piled my plate up high with a selection of tasty looking delights. There was a lot of pasta on offer, and stuffed aubergine but the star of the show was the ham wrapped around cabbage. Sounds odd, but it was lovely. As you can probably imagine, a lot of the food served for aperitif is salty, with salted crisps being everywhere you go, meaning you guzzle down your wine and want to order more. We weren’t fooled though, we finished our drinks and headed somewhere new.
Salty crisps everywhere!
We turned the corner to a new hive of activity and stopped at a venue with a large white marquee attached to it. We were told for 5 euros we could have any drink of the menu and that fresh aperitif would be coming soon. I ordered another wine and sure enough, steaming platters of pastas, mini calazones, fresh boiled eggs, fennel and orange salad and breadsticks were brought out. By this point I was actually pretty stuffed but you can’t turn down free food! Well, I certainly can’t, especially when I’ve had 3 glasses of wine down me. The waiter came over and asked if we’d like any more drinks, to which I cheekily said ‘only if we can have a bottle of wine for 10 euros’ – and I wont tell you how we got it, but we did so I ended the night more than a bottle of wine down.
Sam and Sophie enjoying their cocktails!
Tonight was awesome and I’m definitely going to be making the most of the Italian aperitif culture. I just can’t understand the reasoning behind it, as apparently Italians go for aperitif before their four course dinners. I guess this is why they can eat so late, but surely it’s way too much food?! Maybe they just don’t eat as much as me… Nevertheless, I loved the concept and am now wondering out whether it could work for MYO…
Recommendation 
