We woke up for our last morning at Hotel Villaggio Guglielmo and gathered, for the last time, around the pool with the palm trees gently swaying and the swallows diving to and fro. We enjoyed our blood orange juice and cappuccino before hopping in the van to visit the coffee roasting plant of the Guglielmo operation nearby. Daniel, the plant manager, greeted us and his assistant, Silvana, explained the operations while offering all of us espressos. We watched coffee being roasted and packed to be shipped all over the world…But, the best part was the coffee pot car in the parking lot.
We returned to the hotel where we met Franco and Francesco who helped us stuff our many bags into their cars and off we went to Lamezia Terme. Giacomo, the president of the Rotary Club of Amantea, met us at the hotel. We said good bye to our friends from Soverato and took a ride along the beautiful west coast of Italy overlooking the turquoise waters of the Tyrennian Sea. We navigated the narrow streets of Amantea, a lovely historical town along the coast, and met up with some Rotarian friends. Again, we saw another permanent meeting place for a Rotary Club in southern Italy in a meeting room in a hotel on the sea. From there, we went into the hotel dining room for pranzo (lunch), with an excellent local wine. It began with a seafood salad and many other types of appetizers (including a fish fritter, a zucchini fritter, shrimp, sardines in olive oil and lemon, salmon, cheese, salami). And when the waiter asked what we wanted next, we replied with a chorus of “Pasta!” For dessert, we had Macedonia (fruit salad). During lunch, Alfonso reveled us with his tales of his family and his travels. He even called his daughter in Milan to share his meeting us with her.
After lunch, the best picture of the day was Nick on Alfonso’s Harley in front of the hotel. Or, was it the clothesline hanging in the historic center of town? Or, was it the hearse, bedecked with copious amounts of fresh flowers, and the accompanying marching band at a local funeral? Or, was it Martina on “Danger Street?”
We walked by the sea and then ran into the town Mayor and took some pictures. Nick, Jason, Martina and Giacomo hiked almost all the way up to the castello high on the hill while Jane sat and caught another pass of the funeral marching band. At the top of the hill was a historic military lookout for Napoelon’s army. From this lookout, Amantea successfully held off Napoleon’s army for more than 5 months before succumbing.
After the funeral and castello, we left the old section of Amantea and headed down to the sea where we met Enrico, who had come to play a short recital for us and a few Rotarians, and his girlfriend Anna. Enrico is a student of Giacomo’s and is also a teacher at the music conservatory. He played a Beethoven sonata and two Chopin pieces. It was a huge treat to have such a private concert arranged by such considerable, kind people only for our pleasure. It must be what royalty felt like.
From there, we headed back to the hotel and to a quiet dinner with just the four of us. Jane was happy that she could have pastina soup. Martina was ecstatic that she could eat chicken for the first time in a week. Jason ordered typical Calabrian sausage and loved it.
And, the most important thing of all: we’re getting our laundry done tomorrow!
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