Monday October 31, 2011

Monday 31

Happy Halloween everyone! Another picture perfect day! We went to Stabia today. It is on a hill overlooking the Bay of Naples. It was a resort area for Roman politicians and rich merchants. A number of them built huge summer villas here. They were discovered in the mid-1700’s while digging a well. Unfortunately many of the frescoes were stolen to decorate manor houses of the time and are now in a museum, but it was great to see what was left. We went into one of the villas, San Marco, and were able to see mosaic tiled floors, original paint on the walls and some of the original frescoes that had not been taken (see photo). The part that has been excavated is awe inspiring, but there is still much more of the villa to be discovered under neighboring farms. Our guide to the villa was a young archaeologist named Maria. She was quite witty and we really enjoyed her talk. The villa had large private baths – cold, tepid, and hot – and a reflecting pool with a colonnade on two sides. Before viewing the villa we saw a short film on what the villa might have looked like before its destruction in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. The whole experience was quite delightful. Coming home on the bus was another story. We got stuck in a lot of traffic – besides the normal two lanes, the motor scooters use the space between to travel. It becomes very interesting when they are weaving in and out and passing each other with inches to spare! We had a few minutes when we got back to our hotel to regroup and then get into vans for our ride to a home-hosted lunch. Our group went to visit Anna who owns a farm on a hill high over the city of Sorrento. Our driver drove like a bat out of hell on narrow roads hardly wider than the bus, but meant for two-way traffic. It was like being on a thrill ride at an amusement park! We felt a little better when we got there and found that he was Anna’s son and he drives that road every day. We were lucky our gang of six plus the two couples from Wisconsin were with Manuela. She went with us to interpret, as our hostess did not speak English. She has a 22-acre farm where she raises cows, chickens, pigs and "oysters". When Manuela told us that she raises oysters, I had visions of salt water tanks, but then she went on to say that they were mean tempered, had long necks and could bite. We laughed when we discovered that we were thinking of two different things! She knew it was something that started with an “o”. It turned out that Anna had two ostriches! There are also lemon, walnut and olive trees on the property. The harvest season for the olives is happening now and they catch the ripe ones in nets that get emptied each day (see photo). The lunch was delicious: pasta, beef, steamed chicory, salad, tiramisu. There was also homemade wine and for after dinner a liqueur that was made with chestnuts. She seemed pleased with all of her gifts that we had brought with us to thank her for her hospitality. At 5 PM we had a lecture, “My home away from home”, by an American woman who married an Italian man and the changes that she encountered being an American living in Italy. It was quite fascinating and she touched on a number of topics including education, medicine, salaries, home buying, cooking, and unemployment. We thoroughly enjoyed her talk. We went out for a light supper, as we were all still full from lunch. Dave and I had Caprese salads (sliced tomato and fresh mozzarella in olive oil and herbs. We then took a walk around town and enjoyed watching the children “Trick or Treat” the merchants. Manuela says that this is a recent phenomenon (the last 5 or 6 years). Most of the girls were dressed as witches (perhaps a Harry Potter influence). The boys seemed to prefer monsters or devils. We saw silly string (which I haven’t thought of in years) and much confetti being thrown. Unfortunately, I saw one older boy with a container of raw eggs! Tomorrow we are going to Capri on the fast ferry. My internet time may expire before we return so there may be a gap in the blog until we get to Rome on Thursday evening.