Day 13

Buongiorno,

This is a bit of a boring update, as we spent the day traveling. We want to get to southern Italy, so we are heading for Sorrento. It is a long way, so we found a place on the coast where we could say overnight.

Santa Severa is a beach that is supposed to be one of the nicest beaches close to Rome.

What a dump.

The housing was very run down, it was a black sand beach, the place was dirty and pretty unappealing. Trip Advisor helped us find a hotel that had great reviews, but nothing near the coast. The pictures and reviews looked good, it had a pool, so we booked it.

As we started driving to the hotel we saw a Lamborghini coming up the road behind us. We could see it had two-tone paint, and Grandma said, “I don’t think much of the colour, blue and silver”. Then as it came past us we realised that this is a police car. A Lamborghini police car!

Even in Italia, a Lamborghini police car causes a stir, and people everywhere stopped to look and point and take pictures.

We drove up, up into the hills along very narrow country roads. These roads are always scary in Europe, because there is no centre line, they are very narrow and often in bad repair, the crops are grown right to the edge of the road and so obstruct your vision (in this case wheat or maize), and the locals drive like they are Nikki Lauda qualifying for the San Marino grand prix.

Where’s that Lamborghini police car! He’s too busy looking good.

The view became more and more spectacular as the roads become progressively worse, until finally we were driving along a very rocky dirt road, surrounded by large beautiful houses. Finally we arrived at L'isola di Rosa Relais & Hotel di Charme.

The grounds were beautiful, landscaped and full of olive and lemon trees and grape vines. As you walked past the grape vines you could smell the grapes.

Many years ago, before we built our house, Grandma and Koro rented a house from a very nice couple. But the husband, Roger, was a retired civil engineer, and he liked to do all the maintenance jobs himself, with varying degrees of success. The owner of the hotel looked very much like Roger, and it seemed that a lot of the hotel had been home built.

It was a beautiful design, well made, very quiet and peaceful. But inside the rooms it looked like “Roger” had built the bathrooms himself, and some other small jobs. There was a distinct lack of light fittings, making the rooms very dark. Helen will be chuckling to herself, because she knows how much Koro can’t stand dark rooms!

To get hot water, you had to turn on the hand basin tap, the bidet and the shower to full hot and wait for about two minutes. Finally some luke warm water would begin to flow and you could turn off the taps you didn’t need.

“Roger” and his wife were very gracious and wonderful hosts. The Terrace was a lovely place to sit and watch the sunset, and then the lights of the houses below came on and started to twinkle.

Dinner was from a set menu, and it was a beautiful home cooked meal, cooked by “Roger’s” wife. It was fresh pasta in tomato sauce, lemon veal with a light salad, and affogato (ice cream and coffee) for dessert. Grandma couldn’t eat the ice cream, so “Roger” brought her a bunch of grapes fresh cut from the vine. This was the best meal we have had on our trip so far, and by far the best value for money.

In the end, it was a good day. Around every corner there is always a surprise. Sometimes the surprise disappoints, and sometimes it delights, but it always entertains.

Love from Grandma & Koro and Lamborghini Bee.