Sausages & Chestnuts

A week after our move into Villa Caterina we 

went to see our friends Silvia & Angelo, who both worked 

at one of the local hotels - Silvia as a receptionist, 

Angelo as a lifeguard. The hotel isn't 'frontline',

it is set in secluded gardens back from the main road through

Santa Maria. It's not as popular as the hotels down 

in town & near to the beach but it did have one couple

staying in what was to be the last week of the season.

The lovely Silvia

This was the evening before the signing of 

the contract when Il Sogno would finally 

become ours. Silvia had acted as translator 

during our negotiations over the purchase 

but she wasn't coming to the Notary's 

office in Salerno with us the next afternoon. 

We wanted to see her to thank her for all 

she'd done for us up to this point.

Antonio, the general handyman & shuttle 

bus driver was still at the hotel when we 

arrived; not officially working, just reluctant 

to go home to a house full of women - 

one wife, 3 daughters. Besides,

he wanted to be able to say he'd spent the

evening with the English couple who'd given up life in 

the UK for this magical part of Italy.

Antonio is Cilentan through & through - he

  speaks the dialect, which makes it almost

    impossible for an outsider to understand, and 

he has practically no English at all. Suffice to say

Silvia's translation skills were required lots during

our conversation.  After a while, Antonio suggested

that we share an impromptu meal together; it was

a balmy evening, what better way to spend it than

having a barbecue by the pool?  So Antonio &

Angelo set off for Perdifumo to bring back 

freshly harvested chestnuts, strong Cilentan

sausages & a salad (shredded lettuce, nothing else).

Oh, and a disposable barbecue, of course.

And a bottle of locally produced vino rosso

to wash it all down with.

And as we sat watching Antonio cooking the sausages & roasting

chestnuts, laughing & joking with each other in a mixture of

Italian, English, dialect & hand gestures, I suddenly

felt as though I was a character in a book - the 

type of book expats are renowned for writing,

where surreal experiences happen & new

memories are made.