POMPEI – B&B GIVES TLC
14th November:
POMPEI:
IN THE GRIP OF RAGING INFLUENZA
Pompei was our next stop, where we were fearful of taking our germs. We were both thankful that the journey that day took only 2hrs 22 minutes, because by now the influenza symptoms were raging within me, also. We both dreamed of taking our aching limbs straight back into bed.
POMPEI – HOW WE FIRST MET OUR ITALIAN FAMILY
We had booked four nights with Martina and her brother Salvatore in their B&B La Casa di Plinio. For some years now it has been rated in Trip Advisor as the No.1 ‘Hotel’ in Pompei. This was our fourth stay with them. We had received such a warm welcome on our very first visit in 2009 to view the ruins, when Martina’s mother, Antonella, was in charge of La Casa de Plinio (Martina being on holiday).
B&B Pompei | La Casa di Plinio ttps://www.lacasadiplinio.com/en/homepage/
POMPEI – WELCOMED WITH WINE AND CAKES
Antonella had insisted on ushering us into the owner’s private kitchen, where she plied us with wine and cakes (we had been out for a pizza already). When her husband, Andrea, came in from work, we settled into a convivial evening, with the help of a tablet he owned (very new, then) which translated our conversations both ways.
POMPEI – GOING BACK IN ORDER TO SEE THE REST OF ANCIENT POMPEII
So in 2011 we arranged our route to stay a night or two at La Casa di Plinio with this welcoming family on our way down to the heel of Italy.
We also booked five nights in 2014, planning to view the ‘other end’ of the vast Roman site. (We like to take our time and explore in depth).
IN 2014 CONSERVATION OF ANCIENT POMPEII LED US TO HERCULANEUM
It was a bitter disappointment then to find that all the great villas at the station end of the Pompeii site were closed for conservation – including the famous brothel, with its naughty murals.
POMPEI – A ‘DROP-EVERYTHING’ WELCOME
The minute we arrived at La Casa di Plinio in 2014 Martina must have telephoned the entire family, because within ten minutes all were there, kissing and hugging us. Martina’s partner Vincenzo, and Salvatore, her brother roared up on their motorbikes. They had taken time off work just in order to show us their pleasure at our arrival!
2014 – WE ARE TOLD ‘YOU ARE OUR FAMILY’
Martina and Salvatore’s mother, Antonella, closely followed them. She is an incredibly beautiful woman with a heart as fair as her face. She was leading HER mother…
That was when we were told ‘you are our family, Jackie; Graham. You eat with us tonight. Andrea will be home from Naples.’ Thus was formed a bond which will never break. Italians really treasure ‘famiglia’. More openly apparent than in some families back in England.
HERCULANEUM
WE ‘TRY’ HERCULANEUM – AND FIND IT REWARDING
We had already thoroughly explored the two colossea in Pompeii: Also the forum, the graveyard and the numerous streets that led to the site café. We reluctantly decided that perhaps a trip to nearby Herculaneum might be the better option on that holiday. It was a fortunate decision. In some ways the smaller site is more rewarding. In Herculaneum many houses, and even blocks of Roman flats, are still quite intact. This was due to the way the holiday resort was instantly buried under hot ash. This preserved even wooden furniture (now in Naples museum) and balcony rails and still-bright roof tiles. I would love to see one house furnished with replicas of the originals.
HERCULANEUM – FOSSILISED SKELETONS OF FLEEING FAMILIES
Instead of casts of the bodies found, as in Pompeii, in Herculaneum you can still view the fossilized skeletons of the families who had fled to the ‘last haven’ – the boathouses by the old seashore. We found it intensely moving, as did Lolly and other visitors on our later trips.
POMPEI – DRIVING AROUND VESUVIUS
We also drove the winding road around Vesuvius, discovering some intriguing towns. One was full of very good wall paintings. We bought excellent ‘volcanic’ wine, and fresh cherries and other fruits from farmers selling at the roadside.
POMPEI – A FEAST WITH OUR ITALIAN ‘FAMIGLIA’
There was a memorable feast that year (2014) with our ‘famiglia’. It was the night before we first explored Bari, and hopped on the overnight ferry to Croatia. It was supposed to be our treat to our lovely host family. However, we strongly suspected that Andrea, the father, had another arrangement with the owner of the restaurant they picked.
– AND AN ASSORTMENT OF RELATIVES AND FRIENDS
We sat outside at a large table placed beneath cunningly lit vines. It was all very romantic. Andrea insisted on taking over the ordering. Food kept coming – in the Italian way. As did various relatives and friends of the family. They would turn up and plonk themselves down on a spare chair, and often partake of a course or two. This is also a common Italian custom. The lovable Italian people open their big hearts so readily. They are the experts in extending celebration and welcome to all who seek them out: An example to us all.
Since then we have been embraced as part of the Casa di Plinio family – Antonella, Andrea, and their children Salvatore and Martina; and Martina’s partner, Vincenzo.
POMPEI – BACK IN 2016 AGAIN – HUGS, KISSES AND COOKING:
As usual, the moment we turned into the courtyard, Martina was on her mobile phone, rushing down from her flat and letting us in through the large gate. Within fifteen minutes the entire family surrounded us. We were hugging and kissing (couldn’t stop them, but averted our faces when they kissed – we didn’t wish to pass on our germs).
Salvatore and Vincenzo had left their work, and had to rush back – but they still came. As usual, roaring up on their motorbikes.
Andrea’s work took him much further afield, but that evening he cooked a special welcome meal for us in the house where he and Antonella live. Graham and I struggled to do justice to the delicious food, the ‘flu having robbed us of all appetite.
POMPEI – WE RECEIVE TLC.
Our Italian family (they long ago adopted us) were great. I don’t know what we would have done without their loving help. They were in the throes of redecorating all the rooms, which they do every year. They did not close while the refurbishing went on, as they had planned.
Despite this we both stayed in bed for three days, and because I was still very poorly they agreed that we could stay out the week, which gave me two more days in bed. So Martina accepted another couple, and also an Italian family, the mother of whom became a thorn in her side. ‘I’ll never accept Italians again. They are the worst,’ she declared. (I’m sure that’s not true, really.)
MARTINA NURSES ME – AND CANCELS OUR NEXT B&B’S
Graham got up on the fourth day but I stayed in bed. Martina had the work of cancelling two nights at Cinque Terre and one at Orange, which we had both looked forward to seeing. We’d also very regretfully cancelled our original booking to stay again at the charming house of Svetlana and Lucio Bigero in the eco-park of Selva Grande. They are very charming people, who welcome you into their home. The accommodation is spacious and colourful, and full of good art. The rest of the house is also a reflection of its lively minded and artistic owners, with lots of books and musical instruments.
B&B Villa Selva Grande, 00060 Sant’Oreste, Metropolitan City of Rome, Italy. Phone: +39 329 681 7194
Whilst there, we had planned to again eat at a small restaurant where the chef is ‘passionate about food’. It is situated at the foot of a nearby mountaintop town full of artists and craftsmen. Even the little shops were artistic and colourful.
Instead, we decided on a more direct route of one-night stops in order to reach the Channel tunnel on the 29th November.
POMPEI – HOT DRINKS AND A LIGHT, NUTRITIOUS LUNCH
Meanwhile, Martina kept popping in with hot drinks and offers to make food. We declined, until on our last day, when I knew I must get up (we’d be travelling next morning).
To our surprise Antonella arrived and cooked lunch for everyone, including Martina’s delightful, hardworking assistant, Anna. We met her wedged in, crowded around the small table. She was passing bowls of a very light spaghetti dish containing Calabrese (and celery? It was a long time ago). I know the sauce was light green and so delicious that I managed to eat half of my bowlful.
POMPEI – CAR REPAIRS – FAMILY FAREWELLS.
We left Pompei on Sunday the 20th. November, 2016.
I felt pretty rough, but just well enough to travel. At least the delay had given Graham time in the last day or two to use our friends’ motor mechanic to check out the Golf. (After all our challenges our eleven-year-old steed was starting to show signs of wear.)
A Good job, too! The mechanic found two valves in the water system that were almost blocked. He replaced the cheapest and cleaned the dearest, and said we should now have no trouble and safely see the white cliffs of Dover. (How we were going to do that from the tunnel begs the question…) Graham, delighted by the low bill, said he was being cheerfully Italian.
LEMON & ORANGES FROM THE TREE
Before we left Graham went into our friends’ garden and picked a lemon and some oranges. The temperature in the sun was a pleasant 21C. So with the warmth and the sun shining, not a bad place to have ‘flu, we thought. Better than England in mid-November.
POMPEI – IF THEY STILL HAVE SPACE – DO NOT MISS THIS SPECIAL B&B:
B&B La Casa Di Plinio Via Stabiana 3, 80045 Pompei, Italy.
Home: 0818598960; Martina Mobile: 00393339453170; Salvatore Mobile: 00393934008187
e mail: info@lacasadiplinio.com
Text by – Jackie Usher, SWWJ. (aka author Debbie Darkin, & ‘Graham Liverpool’ on Trip Advisor.)
Photographs by – Graham Usher.
