Caprile' continued;

After piling various pillows blankets & sundry clothes under the saggy mattresses, we slept quite well on the ancient and rather lumpy beds. After touring for a couple of weeks, and sleeping in all kinds of beds, (mostly hard) it was actually quite nice to have the same bed (regardless of its age & other deficiencies)for ten nights! We tended to be jolted awake whenever the church-bell out the window tolled (supposedly every 15 minutes, but actually it could be silent for several hours, then ring randomly...)but we got used to it. In the morning we were awoken by neighbours calling to each other out the windows, or in the alley below; then we got up and soaked in the stunning views out the windows.

Breakfast (and all our subsequent meals) was cooked in one rather battered aluminium pan on a gas hob which was lit with a candle. We also had a pot, which had to double as kettle. In spite of only one element functioning, I enjoyed cooking various Italian or kiwi style food while we were there. It was a bit like camping...

Bathing was interesting; the water temperature was turned down so low that to get a warm shower only a tiny trickle of tepid water came out. One needed to stand in a peculiar shaped chub-bath with water up to our ankles, (warmed up in the pot on the stove...) and scoop up water to pour over oneself. Later we had the temperature turned up, making it theoretically possible to have a proper shower. Unfortunately there was no shower curtain, so water would go all over the room... In the end we sat in the chub, with feet sticking up in the air and had baths. (It was rather difficult to get out again...)

Staying in this character house was a highlight of my trip, and I thank Kay enormously for finding it for us.

Italians are very thrifty people, and take the responsibility of saving electricity very seriously. The houses have very minimal wiring, and few power points (some so old as to be impossible to be used by modern appliances). We managed to find one that occasionally worked enough to re-charge my phone. Lights had to be turned off as soon as you leave the room. Neighbours reminded us if we failed to extinguish all the lights when we went out. This made finding our way in again a bit fraught, but we managed not to tumble down the stone steps in the dark... we learned never to go out without a torch.

Kay's friend, Francesca(our neighbour)kindly invited us over for a couple of wonderful meals. She is a marvelous cook, and showed us real Italian cuisine; including a dish made with garden snails (not my favourite dish) and another using wild asparagus. We ate more pasta that week than we ever had before... it got a bit tedious at the time, but now I find myself occasionally craving dishes we ate while in Italy. I missed a gnocchi making lesson when Roly got restless and wanted to take a day trip, but got home in time to join Francesca, Kay & friends for a meal of gnocchi, and other delicacies.

A new favourite dish is Carbonarra, eaten in a restaurant in Cassino. I found a recipe and made it for lunch the other day. It was just the way I remembered it, and eating it brought back memories of the trip, and of Kay's friend's war museum in Cassino.