Summer Guests

So far our summer has been a worldwind of activity, every week we have had new guests arriving even as we say good-bye to others that now depart as lifelong friends. 

Our first guests came just days after we moved in, these guests are friends from our old area of Latina and San Felice, not far down the Appia Way from us. They were good friends who were easy to please and entertaining them was effortless. We prepared lunches and dinners together and enjoyed Spritz cocktails under the setting sun. I will forever remember that night with them with a smile. I can still see their enthusiasticly enthralled faces as we sipped our icy orange cocktails sitting in a row of chairs, lined up with a perfect view of the setting sun. We chatted and laughed, bathed in the golden light and enjoyed that perfect moment together as friends.

After dinner we were delighted by the fireflies that sparkled and twinkled in the olive groves below. We ran down the gravel road in the dark catching the illuminated creatures in our hands and marveling at their splendor as we cupped them in our hands. Their youthful enthusiasm made me feel like a kid myself, I don’t think I ever quite stopped being a kid, I still jump at the chance to dance in the moonlight. These were the last guests to enjoy the fireflies, much to our surprise they vanished after that weekend, we hope to see them again in the fall, but that is how things are in Italy, they are meant to be enjoyed for a season, special for their fleeting, sweet nature.

But there were other adventures to be had with the next guests! We explored our local area with Susette and Luis from Mexico, walking the biblically historic Appia Way. Not far from our house we have a beautiful stretch of the Appia with original stone walls and a temple that is still standing that was dedicated to Apollo in the fourth century BC.

With our guests from Australia we took the opportunity to tour our own Castle of Itri and scamper along the walkway from the Castle to the “Crocodile” Tower. The “Crocodile” tower got its name from the crocodile that lived at the bottom of the tower who received as its dinner any prisoner who had the misfortune of being thrown to the bottom. The views of Itri are beautiful from this vantage point, you can see all of the houses clinging to the base of the castle wall for protection and spilling down into the valley below. Itri is flanked by the Appia Way on one side and the port of Gaeta on the other and has four medieval towers that have stood guard over the city for centuries.

I personally like the stories of pricess Giulia Gonzaga who married the Duke of Sabbioneta at 13 and was widowed when she was 15. She continued to live as “Lady” in Fondi until the Pirate Barbarossa tried to kidnap her for the Sultan Suleiman I when the Turks sacked her Kingdom of Fondi. She fled the castle in Fondi with a knight, down secret passageways and escaped. Later she lived in a convent where she learned the writings of Luther and Calvin and became a believer. For this she was later considered a heretic against the Catholic Church,. Pope Pius V said he would have “burned the Lady alive” if he would have known about her “extremist” views. Giulia was known far and wide as a beautiful and exceptional woman of the arts, but her real love was for religious reform. She was friends with such religious reformers of as Juan de Valdez and Piettro Carnesecchi who was killed as a heretic. I lenjoy walking these castle passageways and wondered what else these castle walls have seen. So far it’s the stuff of Cinderella stories with crocodiles in the tower and revolutionary princesses. 

One of our favorite things to do with guests in the summer is to go to the beach in Sperlonga. The old city itself is beautiful to see with its white washed walls and blue doors reminiscent of a Greek Isle. But that’s not our favorite part, our favorite is to go the beach called “Il Pirati”. Here you can rent paddleboats and paddle out to the caves. The water here is just like the water in the Island of Capri, so perfectly blue and when you disturb the water as you swim, it catches the light and creates a aurora of blue around your moving body. The light shines in the caves from holes in the top and forms rays of sunlight like a spotlight in the otherwise dark cave. It is truly beautiful to swim in these waters and take in the beauty.

Our next guests came from North Carolina USA on their way to the International Convention in Spain. Actually all of our guests were either going to or coming from the International conventions which only added to our worldwide flavor. With theses guests we toured another local site that we hadn’t seen yet, and that was the Montagna Spaccata or Split Mountain in Gaeta. Here in this beautiful port town you will find a towering cliff in front of the sea that has split right down the middle. The effect is a big crack in this white stone that you walk down the middle of until you reach the end. At this point you are rewarded with a breathtaking view of the very blue Mediterranean Sea framed by a great white stone fissure. The water is the bluest of blues and the view is straight down. It reminded me of the “Narrows” in Zion National Park in Utah, only with the blue sea to accent it.

The best part is it is free and on the same property is the Grotta del Turco, which is another passageway in the Stone Mountain that carries you down to the sea level. In this Grotto you climb down the staircase until you reach the beach with the beautiful blue water framed by a natural cave. Jeff and I notice a hiking path here and we make a note to return and try a nice hike.

With these same guests we enjoyed another fun “first” for us and that was firing up our pizza oven and trying our hand at making wood fired pizzas. The evening was fun of “hands on” cooking with the guests making their own pizzas just before they were thrust into the wood fire oven. This was definitely a hit and something I am sure will be enjoyed again with future guests.

Next came Chris and Becky from our hometown in California. With them we enjoyed a full itinerary of touring our local areas and eating all of our house specialties. On the menu was Cozze & Fettuccine made with local Gaeta mussels and Jeff’s famous Pasta Carbonara which is always a favorite of our guests! We also enjoyed summers bounty with our own “farm to table” experience with such recipes as Eggplant Parmesan made with eggplants coming straight from the garden only an arms reach away and fresh local mozzarella. The Pesto Gnocchi with also made with fresh basil from the garden and local hand made Gnocchi.

On the hottest day of July we took a culinary tour of Naples sampling such local specialties as Sfogliatella (a Neapolitan pastry shaped like a seashell with a paper thin pastry and filled with sweetened sheep ricotta flavored with orange zest). Of course we swigged it down with a Neapolitan cafe.

Next up on our culinary tour was pizza and we had no time to waste! We quickly wound our way down the crowded streets of Napoli to find our way to Sorbillos. Here people wait in line for hours to get a taste of the “the best pizza in Naples” which basically means the best pizza in the world. Naples is the home of pizza so no one else has the rightful claim to better pizza and Sorbillos has earned the title of the best pizza of Naples. Jeff knows if we get in line before 11:30 we have the best chance of getting seated without a long line. In fact when we arrive in front of Sorbillos we are surprised that only three people are in line, “are we at the right place?!” Suddenly, as if on cue, a line forms behind us, at least 15 strong and counting! Whew that was close! Sorbillos opens at 12:00 so Jeff waits in line as Becky and I run around hunting for last minute shopping. Soon we are seated and our pizzas arrive. The pizza did not disappoint. After two years of living in Italy and eating A LOT of pizza, we bite into Sorbillos chewy pizza crust and know that this is indeed, the best pizza. 

The pizza did us in and we were not able to explore as much of the Neapolitan food as we would have liked. We did squeeze in a gelato but then we were exhausted, full and too tired in the summer heat to continue our quest. We decide the next “Culinary Tour” of Naples would need to be in the Fall and we would need to eat less pizza.

Our last guests arrived and we all toured the quaint old city of Sperlonga and finally got the chance to visit the Tiberius Caves and Villa Museum. We had watched people walk the ancient ruins of the Villa as we laid on the beach lulling away an afternoon and thought “one day we need to do that”. Well that day finally came when the heatwave was broken by a rainy windy day and we decided it was time to visit the local museum.

It turned out to be well worth it’s entrance fee of €5, with that you get to visit the museum and see the statues and wealth of Tiberius summer villa and his caves. It was very interesting and unique to see the items that were excavated from this very site.

This cave and villa date back 2000 years and show the wealth of an Emperor who places himself on the level of the gods. Walking the villa itself feels a lot like walking Pompeii but smaller in scale. The villa has a beautiful view of Sperlonga beach and ancient city. The cave is still there with a fish pond and the faded opulence of an imperialpalace from 2000 years ago.

With our last guests departed we attempt to find our rhythm again in life. We return our attention to the garden, study and the work in the field as we slowly pick up the pace of everyday life. We will continue in this calmer pace until the next guests arrive with their zeal for exploration and discovery of life in the south of Italy.

If you liked this article, you may like other Articles About Traveling & Living in Italy from our Archives:

House Hunters International in Italy (Published April 24, 2019)

A Californian Surfing in Italy (Published May 1, 2019)

Our New Town in Italy (Published June 17, 2019

Life Lessons from the Secret Garden (Published June 21, 2019)

Homemade Pizza in a “Wood-fired” Pizza Oven (Published July 5, 2019)