Finding Chu Pito

“So here’s to all those summer nights 
when my feet hit the sand, 
the waves break my fall, 

and my friends out number the stars.”

Tonight marks the beginning of Summer in Ostia as the discos (dance clubs) on the beach open up for the season. I'm slightly nervous, as this is a new world to me, but excited as I recall the many evenings I spent with some beautiful friends at the discos in Reggio...

Dancing on the beach, next to the Mediterranean.

Cold drinks (expensive, but cold)

Great friends...

La Bella Vita... 

And how can I forget our "spot?"

Ahhh Chu Pito...

...Chew what?

Chu Pito - the infamous “shot bar” in Reggio. Literally, a complete hole-in-the-wall. The size of a small bedroom, packed with bottles of alcohol, sweaty, greasy Italians, and bartenders who could quite possibly out-rank any professional mixologist.

Chu Pito.

This is where it started. 

All of our summer nights spent dancing in Calabria along the shore of the Mediterranean.

“Posso avere una Margarita?” 

I laugh thinking about my first attempt ordering my first “drink” in Calabria. In my hot pink halter dress my mom bought me from Victoria’s Secret...the bartender was certainly not listening to me, just starring at my chest.

Probably a good thing though, I sounded utterly ridiculous trying to annunciate and pronounce my Italian phrase - they could tell I was American and it was embarrassing.

I can only hope that now I sound a bit more Italian - and less like an American!

From that moment on, our nights in Calabria relied on our pre-game at Chu Pito. And often on our way home, we relied on Chu Pito for a bathroom stop, or a much-needed water break :)

Our first stop at Chu Pito came after our group dinner at Via Veneto, my favorite place to eat in all of Reggio! There, we met our new friends who would make our Summer 2010 unforgettable. 

When we ventured out into the evening, Chu Pito seemed nothing more than a typical Italian bar (cafe in our minds), but it quickly became a favorite meeting point, a familiar spot for us all.


Tonight, as I begin my summer in Rome, me and my friend Sabrina will walk along the marina, and stop for a drink somewhere.


Will it be quite like Chu Pito? Absolutely not.
There is only one Chu Pito!
But, if there's one thing I'm sure of, wherever we go, I'll have a chance to make new friends and find a new "spot". A spot that could become my new Chu Pito where lots of memories will be made and smiled upon when I look back on this summer, Summer 2011.


This is true for everyone. Memories are not made because of where you go, or the places you frequent- memories are made by the the people you're with - together, you create the memories that last a lifetime.