Monte Di Procida
We actually stayed in a small hotel in Bacoli which is only a couple of minutes from Monte di Procida. That first day, Saturday, we stopped by the Lubrano residence to check in and make sure they were expecting us for lunch on Sunday. Of course, while there, they fed us some pasta, green beans, and an omelet and made coffee. Then we went up to my old apartment which in now considerably nicer and lived in by the eldest daughter, Marionella, her husband Antonio and the baby Alesandro.
This is the panoramic view from their (my) balcony with Bacoli on the left and Miseno on the right.
While there, we caught up on the rest of the extended Lubrano family and had another cup of coffee.
After a brief nap (in spite of all the coffee) we got in touch with Maria, went up to her house and then out to dinner at our favorite restaurant in this area, Chiar di Luna which has grown tremendously since we were last there with Alison in 2003. It now houses a small hotel in addition to the restaurant.
We had a another great dinner (I know I've described quite a few dinners this way but that is what we keep finding in Italy) and stayed until 1:15 AM. As mentioned earlier, living European style takes some getting used to.
Sunday it was back to the Lubrano's for a very large lunch/dinner. We started with a simple pasta dish, skipped the mussels because the dinner timing got thrown off by all of the talking, had eggplant cooked in two different ways, then grilled steak, lettuce with lemon juice, cheese, peaches in red wine, watermelon, gelato and coffee. There was also, home made bread and wine throughout.
The cowboy hat is one that I brought over for Gennaro. Last time we were there we asked if there was anything he wanted from the states and he said a brown hat. Whether this was what he had in mind I'm not sure but it seemed like an American hat to me and was well received.
After the big dinner we went over to Gennaro's brother-in-law's house for more coffee and wine. Finally we escaped back to our room where we laid in bed and groaned.
Continued on Page 17