Knowing where your towel is

[shewhomust]

Written a few days ago in Italy, posted on New Year's Eve back in Durham:

J found the Leon d'Oro in the traditional Italian way, through the family. This is the family of her Italian friend, but gradually she has got to know the daughters, and their husbands and their parents, so now they are J's Italian family, and when she told them of her plans to celebrate her birthday in this area which they had visited together, the suggestion came back "Why don't you try my auntie Anna's B & B?"

So Anna who let us in through the big metal gates is J's friend A's son-in-law's aunt (are you keeping up at the back there?). She led us across the courtyard to an archway in the corner, where a flight of steps go up to two doors, one left leading to the B & B and one right leading to the flat. Our party occupies both of these, and we didn't at first realise that only the B & B belongs to Anna - the flat belongs to her sister-in-law, By the time we had worked out that this was why Anna was touchy about us lending each other things from one household to the other, she had grown more used to us, and relaxed about it, and loaned us not only glassware but an additional table for our Christmas buffet.

At our most numerous, we were ten in residence, four in the flat and six in the B & B. J had arranged that Anna would make us all breakfast in her big breakfast room, and thereafter we would cater for ourselves as best we could in the kitchen of the flat, or eat out.

Since the flat is designed for four, we knew that this would stretch its facilities, both in cooking and in living space. On the latter count we were pleasantly surprised: we have a sitting room which comfortably takes as many as have wanted to be in it at any one time, and on Christmas Day took twelve at lunch plus eight or so Italians and a child. Kitchen-wise, not so much. Given that the kitchen was only supposed to be equipped for four, and given that you never know what to expect in a self-catering kitchen, still we kept being surprised by newly discovered absences. Some of these may be cultural: there are great stacks of plates and soup-plates, but no bowls, two hefty coffee makers but no jug. Some are surely not: there are saucepans, but no lids; forks but only a couple of knives (table knives, that is: there is the handle of a breadknife, but no blade), no scissors. But the thing that caused the real bewilderment was "There's only one wine glass!" This has added a note of (mostly cheerful) improvisation to the co-operative efforts in the kitchen, but it underlines our feeling that the B & B is altogether the classier side of the operation.

We managed to blow our main electric fuse on Christmas Eve: we weren't trying to roast a turkey, but the third batch of mince pies was clearly a pie too far. After a candle-lit interlude, normal service was resumed.

F is consistently the most practical of us, and thinks of asking the right questions. We teased her for asking whether there would be a rolling pin, or whether she should bring one (there wasn't, of course, and the mince pie team had to make do with a bottle, though Anna arrived at breakfast on Christmas morning with a rolling pin* in time for durham_rambler to marzipan the cake). She it was who asked, too, whether we should bring bath towels - and received the answer "yes" which J circulated after we had left home, but not too late for us to contact D and valydiarosada and ask them to bring towels for us (that living in the future thing again, and the kindness of friends).

The big disappointment has been the absence of wi-fi; we were both convinced that we'd seen 'wi-fi throughout' on the website, and though I know better than to believe websites which promise you wifi, I hoped that there would, nonetheless, be wi-fi somewhere. There isn't, and although Anna is very generous about letting us use her internet connection, with or without her laptop, it isn't the same.

This is a very domestic note for a holiday post; but then, it's a very domestic holiday. A gathering of old friends to celebrate a special birthday at Christmas time with eating and drinking - edit out personal information about other people and what you're left with is domesticity.

Plus, the weather has been grey and wet, and although there have been excursions, it's pleasant to stay home, too. And, I admit, I haven't been well: an upset stomach combined with acute tiredness have stopped me going as far afield as I might. Though, not to end on too downbeat a note**, I'm very much better today, the sun has been shining and we have been for a walk (about which, no doubt, more later).

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*J threatens that henceforth she will teach her pupils that is an old Italian tradition for the hostess to present the guest of honour with a roling pin on Christmas morning.

**Just for anyone who may not have noticed: mostly I think this catalogue of complaints is funny.

Comments

Happy New Year!

[karinmollberg.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear you feel better already! It is indeed hard surviving both Christmas and new years eve for almost everyone, I gather? Loved the positively russian novelist´s account for the succession of italian relatives, there (think, I got it at the end but am not entirely sure). Christmas cake can be deadly I have heard so you probably got off lightly and also, should there be leftovers, someone described a traditional engrish Christmas cake as "almost indestructible" wherefore it may still be there, next year, I understand...