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Published: October 18th 2006
We've realized that our diary dates don't correspond to the actual date we are journaling. Sorry if that has been confusing.
Also, creating these journals has been quite a learning experience. The European keyboard is not the same as the US, so several of the non-alpha keys are in different places. For example, the @ symbol shares a key with ò and ç We have to use a separate ALT GR key to use the #. The apostrophe shares the ? key and is on the top row. Parens are on 8 and 9. So there are lots of typos to fix before we can publish for your reading piacere.
We added shower photos to the 16 Ottobre journal.
OK, on to Sunday, 15 Ottobre. Sundays have been good to us. First there was San Marco piazzo in Venezia. This week was the discovery of S. Agata. Next Sunday will be in Roma.
Our hotel, a.k.a. a German hostel, doesn't seem to handle non-group tourists very well. They definitely cater to the German as all signage and magazines are in German. We are on the B&B plan, and quickly learned breakfast German style is not what we
like. So, we decided to skip the hotel breakfast and see what we could find in S. Agata. All the staff subtly suggested several times that there are good restaurants in town and it's only a short walk.
The small town of S. Agata has been as oasis in the hassle of Italian travel. Our morning routine quickly became the purchase of 2 yogurts at the market (€0,80) and going to Bar Fiorentino. There, we purchased cappuccino/ciocolatta and wonderful pastries. We ate sitting outside the Fiorentino in the sun, enjoying our breakfast and watching the Italians start their day. Molto bene!
It's Sunday morning and the Italians are buying pasticceria for their mid-day meal. Everyone stopped to fawn over the bambinos; all seemed to know each other. This was a totally Italian village experience and we loved it. We didn't have the correct coins to pay, so they waved off the €0,30. (We went back later in the day to pay it and the cashier was thrilled.)
The rivets on Ann's shoes are loose, so we needed to find a shoemaker. And that we did. He did not speak Inglese, but had a friend chatting with him
who did the interpretting for us. (Italians always have someone they are talking to.) The shoemaker didn't want to flatten the lace loops because he didn't have the right equipment. Pat explained that he fixes scarpòni da sci (ski boots) in the US and was allowed to rummage through the tools for a hammer and awl. So, Pat started hammering away while we all carried on conversation in both Inglese e Italiano. He would not accept any payment, so Pat took his photo. The friend wrote down the address so we could mail the photo to the shoemaker. Now, each day as we pass his shop, we have un amico to greet Buon Giorno.
For dinner, we found Lo Stuzzichino, a family owned ristorànte. That became our ristorànte for lunch and dinner each day. Domineco de Gregario is the owner and a sommalier. We allowed him to select a local wine for each of our meals. Yes, a bottle of wine at lunch. Is there any other way? He and his wife serve the tables; mama, papa Paolo, and cousin work the kitchen. Mama makes a to die for Rumbaba (more rum than flour!) It doesn't get any better
than this, folks. Check it out at
Lo Stuzzichino.
This journal kind of morphed into more than just Sunday. The wonders of Sunday in S.Agata became the routine of our week.
One of the unglamorous tasks of traveling for this long is laundry, usually once a day. Pat is the charwoman, washing in the sink, and rinsing in the bidet. Hard on the old back. Ann rolls the rinsed clothes in a towel and hangs to dry. We are fortunate in Sorrento to have a balcony to string our laundry line, so everything dries very quickly. Quick dry didn't happen at any of our other locations. We thought silk undies and the micro fabrics would dry quickly - not so. Pat's cotton hankies always win the race.
A domani.
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Judy
non-member comment
Rumbaba!
It sounds wonderful! Yummy Rum, don't leave without watching how Mama makes it! Following along with you during your travels has been an adventure, I especially enjoyed the photo with Pat's hands in the toilet! It's chilly here and the leaves are falling. Ciao! Judy Lucas