Montemarcello in bloom

On an exceptionally hot evening early in July a young man came out of the garret in which he lodged in S. Place and walked slowly, as though in hesitation, towards K. bridge.

To Montemarcello for lunch. We sit outside under umbrellas and try to make sense of the menu. We order pizzas, but are promptly told that they serve pizzas only after 6:30, so we go back to the menu.

Angus orders a steak, Mandy calamari, Claire a salad, Ferdi spaghetti with tomato sauce and Megan gnochetti in pesto. From the specials Stuart and I have sardines with buratto and Rory & Charlie tortellini with Gorgonzola. All the food is good, but the sizes vary wildly. The steak is huge and Mandy gets two whole grilled squid. There's plenty spaghetti and gnocchi and the salad, while uninspiring, is plentiful. The boys get a disappointing serving of tortellini and our sardines turn out to be slivers of anchovy - though the buratto is delicious.

Claire and Megan descend through the heat to the beach while the rest of us return to the house. I pick them up later, exhausted from climbing hundreds of steps (them, not me). They say it was the best beach yet - fine black pebbles, decent waves, but no shade anywhere.