the Pic-Nic still abandoned at the mercy of vandals and mice

The old restaurant “Picnic” is ready to once again become a luxury and prominent restaurant for a long time the cliffs of Sciaia a mare and Bocche di Pugliawhere you can also arrive by boat to eat lulled by the sound of the waves and the breeze.

A dream still in the drawer

Only over there There are no docking docks or accommodation facilities where you can sauté spaghetti with clams or fried fish. In the meantime, with just under two months to go until summer, the “Pic-Nic” is back to being the usual and forgotten specter of the last 50 years: abandoned amidst dirt, decay and collapse, after the act of vandalism which saw the perimeter panels and a protective net to avoid intrusion demolished. Yesterday, on a sunny Sunday full of sea lovers looking for their first tan, the old and beloved restaurant (which made history for many people from Brindisi who celebrated weddings, baptisms, birthdays, first communions and parties of all kinds in those rooms genre with well-known singers and groups from the Italian scene and beyond from the 1960s) has returned to perform a deplorable function: a public bathroom for all those who cannot find toilets in those parts available.

An abandoned ruin

For the rest, going there in search of photographic shots means risking experiencing strong emotions: mice and other animals. Wall it up (several times) with sheet metal and surround it with metal and plastic mesh – complete with a sign reading “danger of collapse”- did not serve to distance from the old and decadent ruin the usual and unknown people who during the winter wander along the entire coast between the Scaia mare and Apani to score thefts and raids of all kinds in villas occupied only during the summer. The property, which measures 710 square meters, between covered and uncovered surfaces, in addition to the 160 meters that should cover an ad hoc car park for usershas in recent months been the subject (as regards the relevance of maritime state property) to the release of a 20-year concessionas expressed last year by the Management Committee of the Southern Adriatic Sea Port System Authority.

The interiors of the former restaurant

The recovery project

A project to be authorized according to some rules that go through a complex procedural process which also involves the involvement of theUrban planning office of the Municipality of Toasts. In short, at the moment, of the exclusive restaurant that he should have finally brought a breath of fresh air in a corner of the marina very close to the city, there is no trace. Maybe something got lost along the way. The history of the “Pic Nic” restaurant fits in with the Brindisi nightlife of the 1960s, when other well-known restaurants present nearby (The Lampara and the Skiing at sea) and dancing Estoril they overshadowed Rimini, Riccione and Versilia with the arrival of singers and avant-garde musical groups at that time. Sea, dancing, music until late at night and fine gastronomy were all found within a few steps. The kitchen at the “Pic-Nic” then stopped working in the early 1980s, until it transformed into a shop selling sandwiches, chips and beers, becoming a place for couples in the evening. Over time, several owners took turns, all “angry” at the systematic vandalism that occurred at night. At that point, in an area that became a desert during the wintereverything went down the drain.

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