In the sea of Fregene, a few kilometers from Rome, one can notice a lot of people every day squatting in the water, a couple of meters from the shore. They are vacationers following an old Roman shoreline tradition that has now become the fashion of the summer: handmade tellina fishing. In the literal sense, digging the sandy seabed with fingers blindly, to feel by touch any hard body, pull it up without letting it escape, hoping it's an edible mollusk and not an empty shell or a small crab to throw back into the sea. Some equip themselves with shovels and nets, families organize themselves into coordinated fishing trips, with moms, dads, grandparents and children. They are all intent on sifting the sand with their hands for hours, submerged up to their chins. Even Grandma Franca, at 80 years past her prime, wanted to join in: with her shaky legs, she got on her knees in the waves, but the current made her lose her balance and she ended up on the bottom face down, unable to get up again, but luckily her grandson noticed and helped her resurface. In the evening, the final spoils became a mouth-watering spaghetti dinner. Perhaps even better because free.