Journal 3

Today we headed for Naples, but not before breakfast in the dining room. For the first time we sat in the back, next to the sliding glass doors that look out onto the golf course. The European Ladies Tour was having a tournament, so there was a host of activity. It was fun to watch the ladies gearing up and heading out from the clubhouse. Of course, I was watching to see what they were wearing, noticing that Izod shirts and slim fitting knee length shorts were the preferred fashion look. White, pink, and green if you needed a little more detail. We ended up being distracted, and having a great time, watching three Italian workers build a plant stand in between us and the golf course, in a small green belt area. There were a few other plant stands, so it was easy to tell what the end result was going to be. One man, started off by carrying in the bricks, one by one. The bricks looked to be a least four inches thick and a square foot in diameter. This took him some time to carry them from one place to another, and he was in no hurry. After he carried in about five bricks, he brought in a five gallon bucket of water with a big, fat, brush. He then dipped the brush into the water and flicked it onto each side of all the bricks, and onto the flat two foot, by two foot concrete platform that the bricks were to be laid on. He then took what looked like a very well used mallet, and skillfully chipped around each brick, and then breaking them into exactly the size he needed them to be. He did all of this while continuously puffing on a cigarette. Earlier, I had wondered why he didn't use a wheel barrel to carry in the bricks when the second worker answered that question. He was using the only wheel barrel to carry in the two bags of cement. When he arrived the discussion started, and in typical Italian style, arms were waving and gestures were used to help explain what ever they were discussing. It was hard to tell if they were talking about the plan to build the two foot high, two foot wide plant stand, or if they were talking about the World Cup Soccer games going on, that seems to have consumed the Italians like the Super Bowl consumes the Americans. The first worker then took the five gallon bucket of water and poured it into the wheel barrel and began mixing the cement. A third worker then showed up along with what looked like "The Boss" because he was in a suit and tie. Very typical attire for Italian men. The term "Business Casual" is unthinkable for any respectable Italian. Again, a very vigorous discussion took place between the three workers and the man in the suit. The third man must have been the supervisor because after the discussion he disappeared again, along with the man in the suit. Back to Mario and Tony, which is the names that I feel suited them perfectly, who were eyeballing the bricks, the platform, the wet cement, and a few more of the female golfers walking by, and finally started to build the plant stand. Mario, the first worker, shoveled the cement onto the platform in what looked like just big globes, and with no thought of much he was putting down. But in the end, he knew exactly what he was doing, because Tony used a trowel and smoothed out the piles into the perfect thickness that was needed, from edge to edge. In between his artistic strokes, he never missed a beat puffing on his cigarette. Mario finally placed the first brick down, eyeballed it with the help of his small level, tapped it into place and stepped back with Tony to admire their progress. I would have loved to stay and watch the pair build the rest of the plant stand, but the drive to Naples was ahead of us, so we left. I walked away smiling, think they didn't make a mess of their workplace, no extension cords were used, no skill saws, or blueprints were needed. No noisy machinery to disturb the golfers, or in my mind the peace and quiet of my Italian countryside. It was a small, insignificant event in the everyday lives of Mario and Tony, yet I will remember them always. With a small suitcase and our Ipod plugged into the car radio, we were off to Naples. Stacey pointed out various points of interest along the way that we must come back to explore. I love the fact that he has a photographic memory and every story or town that he has heard of triggers an adventure for us. The photographic memory also comes in handy when getting around the countryside. The last thirty minutes to the hotel was one of Stacey's typical shortcuts that he likes to take and was off the beaten path to say the least! We took so many turns, went down dirt roads, and had to pick our way around a road crew that was digging up something ancient I'm sure, to finally pull into our hotel. I was pleased with "The View." The hotel sits on a golf course, which I might add at this point are few and far between in Italy, but Stacey has managed to find two places for us to stay that just happen to be on a golf course. The Naples Soccer team also uses this place to home base their soccer practices, and a soccer field sits along side the gof course. In fact, the manager of the soccer team and his wife live here almost year round. During the season, the players show up on Wednesdays, practice for a few days and then play on Sundays. We checked into our room which looked directly out to the pool and beyond that the Mediterranean Sea. It was wonderful! We ate a light lunch down in the main lobby area by the fireplace, which Stacey said they have burning in the winter. We were in the center of a very large, comfortable room, with lots of chairs and couches. The bar was off to one side, and on the other side of the room, sat a pool table that Stacey said keeps the soccer players busy when they are not practicing. Out the huge glass sliding doors, that spread the entire back wall, is a covered patio with padded wicker chairs and couches that sit in groupings around small coffee tables. Beyond that, a nicely manicured lawn, the spacious pool, flowered covered cabanas, and then the golf course that runs right up to the edge of the beach. Before Stacey left for a meeting, he showed me how to log onto the internet with the only two computers available in the lobby. I had a short thiry minutes to learn the Italian keyboard, which is different from the American ones, read my emails, and try to send a couple back home before time ran out. I went back up to our room, opened the sliding glass doors, let the breeze float in, moved the little table and chair next to the open door, and worked on my computer for the next three hours while listening to the waves. The time flew by and before I knew it Stacey was back. We changed into our workout clothes, went upstairs to the workout room that consisted of two treadmills, an FX machine and one stationary bike. They did have fresh towels, cold water and scales that seemed lighter than mine back home. What more did we need? We came back down after an hour and sat out on our small balcony to cool down. Showered, and then moved to the covered patio for a drink before dinner. The bartender and Stacey were on friendly terms, as Stacey was with almost everyone who worked at the hotel. Stacey even told me we needed to avoid the American businessman, who is there more than Stacey is, and drives everyone crazy with his "I can one up your story every time attitude." Along with the drinks, the bartender brought out a bowel of these huge green olives that were delicious, peanuts, and two different kinds of chips to munch on. Please, no more!!! We just got off the treadmill!! We then went to dinner and had a wonderful pasta plate with three different kinds of bread, in the never empty bread basket. I was stuffed, but when the waiter mentioned Gelato, I had to accept. Before we left to go upstairs and call it a night, we got our complementary glass of Lemonchello!!