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We recently took a short drive to the nearby picturesque seaside resort of Gaeta, during the Yacht Med Festival which was being held between 20th and 29th April.
Gaeta has ancient maritime traditions as it has long been an important port of trade, a key export being “Itrana” Olives, which are more commonly known as “Gaeta Olives” . The Gulf of Gaeta has a spectacular backdrop as the Aurunci Mountains tumble down to meet the sea.
This Mediterranean festival was to focus on the economy of the sea, sailing, fishing, the environment, culture and tourism. Along the long seafront boulevard there were numerous exhibition stands promoting an array of products and services related to these themes.
On show were of course many boats of all shapes, sizes and prices.
The Guardia di Finanza had opened one of their training ships to the public.
For the first time we were also to enter the premises of the Guardia di Finanza’s Scuola Nautica at the end of the peninsular known as Punta Stendardo. It was most interesting to see the beautiful old town and its cathedral from new vantage points, which gave the vistas an entirely new perspective.
Here on show were martime exhibits including a model of the John Cabot’s (or Giovanni Cabot0′s) ship the “Matthew”. It is believed that he was born in Gaeta, although other sources give his birthplace as Genoa. He became an English navigator and explorer, having settled in Bristol in the 1490′s. He set sail from Bristol in May 1497, and landed in June on what is now called Cape Breton Island. Then he sailed along the coasts of Labrador, Newfoundland, and New England, believing that he had reached north-western Asia.
Across the bay echoed the sound of strong rhythmical drumming. As we wandered back through the old town it became apparent that the reverberations were emanating from a troop of drummers and flag throwers, dressed in colourful medieval costumes.
We looked on as the sbandieratori seemingly effortlessly waved, twirled and tossed their heraldic standards into the air.
Traditionally, in times gone by, such bands of brave men would have lead their troops into battle.
Returning to matters nautical – Gaeta is the home port of the 6th Fleet Flagship USS Mount Whitney.
On the 20th May Gaeta will be in the forefront of the sailing news, as it is to be the starting point of the 2012 Rolex Volcano Race. From Gaeta the crews will race past the Pontine Islands and reach Capri to complete the first leg of the event. After the stop-over on the Isola Azzurra, the boats then race across the Tyrrhenian Sea and towards the Aeolian Islands which include Stromboli, Vulcano and Alicudi, a volcanic archipelago just north of Sicily. The long distance race of more than 400 nautical miles will finish at the beautiful Island of Capri.
We wish all the contestants fair winds and God speed.
By the way – I have recently updated my webpages about the beautiful and interesting town of Gaeta – Please do take a minute or two to take a look:
http://gaeta.shapcott-family.com
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Two of our friends, Kay and Elsie, who are regular visitors to Tre Cancelle, volunteered to come and help us with this year’s olive harvest. Elsie also recruited two of her friends, Karen and Sylvia, who all belong to a popular Belly-Dancing group in South Wales.
Itri’s undulating hillsides are tinted with the silvery green foliage of olives trees, indeed Itri has been noted for the quality of its olives since Roman times.
The “Itrana” cultivar is exclusive to this specific area, thriving as a consequence of the unique environment, quality of the fertile soil, temperate micro –climate, sea breezes and fresh mountain air.
So for the last month the olive groves around Itri have been a hive of activity, with the cheery banter of workers laughing and jesting whilst preparing for the olive harvest, strimming grass and weeds and trimming and burning suckers. Little “apes” (pronounced Ah-Pays, which translated literally mean “bees”) – small three wheeler vans noisily buzz and rattle along the local lanes, sometimes with a husband and generously proportioned wife cosily crammed inside the tiny driving cab.
By November many of the olives have grown round and plump and are gradually turning from bright green to dappled pink. Those harvested in November / December produce the much sought after “Early Harvest” Extra Virgin Olive Oil and / or Green Table Olives.
Other farmers prefer to harvested their olives when they are fully ripe, during February / March, to produce the “Mature Harvest Extra Virgin Oil and / or Purple / Black Table Olives.
After the well received comments from our last years November oil, we elected to harvest our olives early in the season, which whilst it produces less in volume, yields a wonderfully green and intense olive oil.
The weather seemed to be in our favour being set fair for most of the week. The “Welsh Girls” were keen to get stuck in.
We started by carefully spreading out nets around some of the trees on the first terrace to be worked. Paul fired up the compressor to which can be fitted a variety of pneumatic tools, in this case a mechanical rake on a 4 meter telescopic pole, which is used to comb and vibrate the laden branches, causing the olives to cascade onto the nets below.
Sylvia
Elsie and Kay
Some of the trees had grown very tall, and required pruning back, so Paul climbed up a ladder, and with his trusty chain saw, and lopped off the tops to a more manageable height of 4 meters, thus allowing the olives to be easily harvested at ground level.
This is done by hand either by using small rakes or by gently running one’s fingers over the fronds, popping of the colourful fruits, a task I find enormously satisfying.
Elsie
Sylvia
Inevitably the odd stray olive manages to bounce off the net so we scrambled about under the trees collecting these up.
The nets were then carefully gathered up and the olives rolled to one edge, where stray twigs and leaves are pulled out before pouring the olives into the waiting plastic crates. The huge nets were then lugged to the next batch of trees to be harvested.
Elsie, Kay and Karen
Kay, Elsie, Sylvia and Karen
Ideally the olives need to be processed within 48 hours of being harvested, to preserve the very best of their natural characteristics.
The minimum batch size to take to the olive mill is 200 kilos, or 2 quintale, to ensure that your olives are processed in a single lot, and that you retrieve your own oil at the end of the process, and that it is not a mixed with someone else’s olives. We think this is very important because by choice we do not use pesticides and herbicides whereas some other producers are not so ecologically minded.
Therefore, in general we tend to work two days on and one day off. Our team of volunteers worked well and following the first 2 day harvest we were able to take 209 kilos of olives to the mill.
The following day the “Welsh Girls” deserved a well earned day off.
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Having completed a trip to Rome to drop off friends at Fiumicino Airport, with much of the day still ahead of us, we decided to take a bit of a detour on the way back, heading towards the coast in search of Anzio and Nettuno.
Even since Roman times it seems that Anzio has been a popular holiday destination, indeed both of the Emperors Caligula and Nero were born here. On the small headland of Capo D’Anzio we came across the viewpoint with a bronze statue of Nero.
To the right the remains of his luxurious villa can be seen in the cliff-top Archaeological Park of the Arco di Muto.
Here also stands Anzio’s Lighthouse looking out over the remains of the ancient Roman port.
However, with the decline of the Roman Empire the city fell into disrepair and by the Middle Ages Anzio had reverted to little more than a simple fishing village. It was not until the early 1900’s that Anzio once again developed into an elegant seaside resort with many edifices constructed in the Art Nouveau “Liberty” style of that period, such as the grand casino, known as the “Paradiso sul Mare”.
Today Anzio is a bustling holiday town, with many restaurants, pizzerias, bars and cafes and during the summer months visitors can enjoy many cultural events. There is a busy port packed with fishing boats, in addition to various ferries and hydrofoils which travel daily back and forth to the Pontine Islands. The colourful marina is filled with numerous yachts and pleasure craft.
The nearby town of Nettuno shares much of its history Anzio. From the 9th century the local inhabitants found themselves exposed to repeated attacks by the Saracens, so a more secure fortified settlement was established high on the cliff, where the historic centre still stands. The walled Fortress of Sangallo was built in 1503 to protect the city from more seaborne attacks.
Sadly Anzio and Nettuno are best remembered as being the landing point of the Allied British and American Forces in the WWII, during “Operation Shingle” in January 1944. The strategic blunders of this military exercise resulted in a the terrible loss of life of many of these soldiers who took part in the bloody battle along its shores, and indeed of many of Anzio’s innocent civilians.
The Anzio Beachhead Museum, or Museo dello Sbarco Alleato is housed within the 17th century Villa Adele, has of a fascinating collection of documents, battle plans, maps, photographs and assorted artefacts relating to “Operation Shingle”. At the junction with traffic lights outside Anzio train station, on foot take the hill down towards the town centre and the museum building is on the left-hand side in Via Villa Adele. Admission is Free. Disappointingly, on the day of our visit the museum was closed, so it may be wise to take note that the museum is only open on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturday and Sunday. (This is Italy !!!)
http://www.sbarcodianzio.it/english.htm
In Anzio there are two British Cemeteries: The Beach Head War Cemetery
http://www.cwgc.org/search/cemetery_details.aspx?cemetery=70511&mode=1
and the Commonwealth Anzio War Cemetery
http://www.cwgc.org/search/cemetery_details.aspx?cemetery=2064800&mode=1
We found ourselves deeply touched by our visit the former – so many graves of brave young men who sacrificed their lives to liberate Italy. The cemetery is meticulously maintained, and contains 2,312 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War.
We eventually found that the 77-acre Sicily-Rome American Cemetery lies closer to Nettuno than Anzio. Here are the graves of 7861 Americans who died during the liberation of Italy and there is a memorial to the 3095 missing. The statue, by sculptor Paul Manship, is entitled “Brothers in Arms.” The cemetery is generally open daily to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
* photo by raffaele birnardi
Sicily-Rome American Battle Monuments Commission website: http://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries/cemeteries/sr.php
The town of Anzio was awarded the Gold Medal for Civil Merit because Anzio was the scene of violent clashes between opposing forces, suffered devastating bombings and fierce reprisals that caused the death of many citizens, including many children. The town and port was almost completely destroyed. The population was displaced, personal property abandoned, forced to seek refuge in neighbouring towns or in makeshift caves. The people endured extreme hardship and starvation. Yet the survivors responded with dignity and courage, confronting the horrors of war, to the return to peace and the difficult work of reconstruction.
There is a story often told of a little girl who was discovered alone and forlorn on one of Anzio’s beaches by Anglo-American soldiers. The soldiers not knowing her name called her “Angelita” and took her to a place of safety. There are various versions of the tale, but some say that during the German’s heavy bombing of Anzio, she was killed soon afterwards. The story has come to represent the suffering of innocent children during times of war. In Anzio a beautiful bronze statue has been erected in Angelita’s name, depicting a little girl surrounded by flying seagulls. You can see here:
Viggy77 Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/62114411@N00/5192018738/
Indeed there is so much of interest to discover in Anzio. It is an easy day trip from Tre Cancelle. For more information please see our Anzio /Nettuno web pages at : http://anzionettuno.shapcott-family.com/
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One of the best things about what we do is meeting so many interesting people and making new friends from around the world. At the end of May we welcomed our first visitors from New Zealand – a couple of lovely ladies, Rosie and Susan from Christchurch.
They had planned their trip well before the tragic series of major earthquakes had struck and brought Christchurch to its knees. Both had been deeply affected by the quakes, but after taking stock, with careful consideration they courageously decided to go ahead with their holiday. These plucky ladies had organised, all by themselves, a three week whistle-stop tour of many European countries such as Holland, France, Switzerland, Greece, Italy and Malta.
Rosie contacted us as, after having read about the tiny little village of Campodimele. For several years she had had a burning desire to visit this location and see it for herself. As she and her travel companion were lacking their own transport we agreed to put them both up at “Tre Cancelle” and personally drive them to Campodimele which is not so far from Itri.
One afternoon we pootled off and ventured inland, navigating the sharp twists and turns of the road that snakes its way up into the Aurunci Mountains. First, en route, we headed up to the nearby Sanctuary of the Madonna della Civita to take a look at some of the splendid panoramic views from this point.
View of Itri and beyond the Gaeta Peninsula and the Island of Ischia in the distance
We then continued along the meandering mountain road which finally led us to Campodimele.
The picturesque, medieval village is perched high on a hilltop overlooking a sheltered fertile valley. It is encircled by formidable turreted walls, which were built many centuries ago to protect its citizens from attacks by marauding Saracen pirates.
Rosie at Campodimele
A path, known by the locals as “Lover’s Lane”, winds itself around the town walls, from which there are stunning panoramic views of the surrounding verdant countryside.
In the village square stands an ancient elm tree which was planted in 1789 to commemorate the French Revolution.
As I mentioned earlier, back in New Zealand, Rosie had read of the village’s renown. This tiny little town has been awarded the European title of “The Village of Eternal Youth” as it is noted for the longevity of its citizens. It seems that they are a particularly hardy breed, who seldom have the need to visit a doctor, rarely die before the age of 85, and it is not uncommon for its citizens to attain the age of 100. The World Health Organization sent researchers to the village to try to discover its secret.
Some of the contributing factors must surely be: the clean salubrious mountain air, the locally grown fresh ingredients that make up the typical good wholesome diet, which of course includes the excellent local extra virgin olive oil. Also the fact that the elderly do not retire early, preferring to keep themselves busy and active as possible. Campodimele’s senior citizens are not left to grow old alone, they are well cared for and supported by their family and others in the close-knit community. Indeed, even here in Itri, our 89 year old neighbour seems to be living proof of this, as he is still fit enough every morning at 6 am to climb his ladder, with secateurs and pruning saw in hand, to lovingly tend his olive trees.
The locals of this area are indeed resilient people who have a strong connection with the land. The old folk have toiled relentlessly over the years and also had to overcome indescribable hardships during WW2. Thankfully they now can enjoy better stress-free times in their twilight days.
Leathery skinned, elderly residents can often be seen sitting in the town square under the shade of a tree, or on a chair outside their front door, where they watch the world go by, not that much does go by in tiny Campodimele !!!
However on the particular day of Rosie and Susan’s visit, which was a Sunday, there wasn’t even one aged inhabitant to be seen anywhere. Very strange we thought, had they all suddenly died off ???
Then we came across an announcement that had been posted on the village notice board. -
“This Sunday - A Special Coach Excursion For The town’s Senior Citizens To Visit Rome and See The Pope.”
That explained it all !!!
Find more information about Campodimele here at
http://campodimele.shapcott-family.com
Susan and Rosie at Sperlonga
Rosie and Susan, we continue to think of you all in Christchurch,
and of course all of those reeling from the earthquakes in Japan.
It was a pleasure to meet you. Keep safe girls.
We hope you will return to Campodimele and Bella Italia one day .
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A recent article in the Telegraph Newspaper about Campodimele:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/8627933/The-secrets-to-a-long-life.html
On the last Sunday of October our friends invited us to accompany them on a trip to the annual Chestnut Festival in the small mountain town of Norma. We travelled along the SS7, the ancient Roman Via Appia towards Rome, until we took a right turn signposted to Ninfa and Norma. Eventually we negotiated the abrupt ascent to Norma and route to the Lepini Mountains following numerous vertiginous hairpin twists and turns. The surrounding hillsides are covered with the greenery of chestnut and olive trees.
The town of Norma, at a height of 435 metres is precariously perched on a sheer wall of rock overlooking the botanical oasis of the Giardini di Ninfa with a panoramic view of the expanse of the Pontine Plain.
Ninfa
Norma is a popular haunt of enthusiasts of paragliding and hang gliding who take full advantage of the rising warm thermal currents.
Norma’s Sagra delle Castagne is held annually over the last weekend of October, to record and celebrate the chestnut harvest and other ancient traditions, culture and folklore.
We strolled along the long central street to absorb the festive atmosphere. Various wooden shacks and booths been set up decorated with leaves and woodland greenery, as well as small rustic pens made of chestnut poles, containing sheep and goats.
Everywhere there was the appetising aroma of chestnuts roasting on glowing hot braziers, while other food stalls tempted us with an array of traditional dishes, both savoury and sweet, all based on the humble chestnut.
* photo by avlxyz
At one time this produce had been regarded as merely a food for the poor peasant, however due to its nutritional properties and delicate, sweet nutty flavour it became a valued ingredient in many traditional Italian recipes.
Other stalls offered diverse local delicacies such as olive oil, wild mushrooms, honey, cheeses and sausages.
As the weather sadly turned against us, with spells of cold showery rain, we headed for the large “camp kitchen” which was doling out plates of traditional hearty warming fare such as homemade pasta with a mushroom sauce, polenta and sausages cooked in a flavoursome tomato sugo, washed down with some excellent local wine. Then, of course, more bags of hot roasted chestnuts.
After lunch we leisurely made our way down the twisting road to Lower Norma in search of the Museo del Cioccolato, the Chocolate Museum and factory where Cioccolato di Antica Norba is produced. It is housed in a rather uninspiring industrial building, however once inside we were invited to sample a small cup of molten chocolate from “the Chocolate Fountain”, which I found rather too sweet, but would be just perfect for the typically sweet -toothed Italians.
The museum houses exhibits portraying the history of chocolate making, the processing and machinery, advertising posters and packaging.
Once having made our way through the museum we entered the Cioccolato di Antica Norba Factory Shop where you can choose to buy from an array of chocolate products of all shapes and sizes.
An interesting visit especially if you are a chocoholic !!!
Click Here for more information about the beautiful nearby Gardini di Ninfa
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In the seaside city of Gaeta, the festival known as “Le Vie di Gaeta”, is held over a long weekend at the beginning of October. This a popular event with people coming from near and afar to take part. It is a celebration of local ancient traditions, culture, history and gastronomy and there are informative guided tours of the town where one can learn more about Gaeta’s colourful history, art, culture and nature.
On the Saturday evening a wonderful Food Festival is held in the charming setting of Via Indipendenza which runs parallel with the sea front Lungomare Giovanni Caboto. Via Indipendenza is a quaint, narrow pedestrian alley, approximately half a mile in length, and is paved in dark volcanic stone, with many little adjoining alleyways known as vicoli. Here you can find many small shops selling fresh local food and an array of items, such as souvenirs, handicrafts, leather goods, clothes, jewellery etc.
The food festival is a gastronomic extravaganza of traditional local Gaetana food, recipes and where locals offer samples of their freshly prepared delicacies.
We arrived in the early evening, and watched as the locals were still in the process of setting up numerous colourful stalls along the narrow street. The participants are generally all volunteers, a great example of the locals coming together to keep alive their community and traditions, which they hold so dear.
There are small tables at strategic entry points to the Via with people selling vouchers which represent an ancient coinage of the old duchy of Gaeta known as the “Follaro”, which is valued at about 50 euro cents. With these vouchers you can then purchase samples of the various delicacies on offer.
Gaeta residents come together to offer the very best of their native ingredients and cuisine, for example Gaeta olives and freshly caught local seafood, cicinelli (tiny baby fish) octopus salads, cod or vegetable fritters, anchovy meatballs.
Then there is the renowned Tiella, which is a cross between a pizza and a calzone. Typical fillings include diced calamari with parsley, garlic, oil, hot chilli pepper and a little tomato sauce. Other fillings include escarole (a variety of endive) and baccalà (dried cod), egg and zucchini, spinach, and ham and cheese.
There was plenty of local vino on offer as well, as dolci such as Bignè made from a type of choux pastry filled with delicious crème patisserie, cakes made with honey and Struffoli, small balls of fried batter, rolled in honey.
Some of the stallholders had even taken the trouble to dress up in traditional costumes of the Gaeta area.
It seemed that everywhere along the route our tastebuds were tantalised by the deliciously temping aromas. By now Via Indipendenza was buzzing with throngs of people filling every nook and cranny of the narrow street, and forwards progress was slowed to a virtual standstill by people stopping and chatting with neighbours and friends every couple of yards.
Indeed it was an excellent evening of good food, conviviality and merriment.
Click Here for more information about the seaside town of Gaeta
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Here at Tre Cancelle our Farmhouse and Olive Groves are immersed in the greenery of the Italian countryside. Just behind us stands Monte Marano, which reaches a height of 516 metres.
We are so lucky to be surrounded by abundant wildlife including many species of song birds as well as Kestrels, Hawks, Buzzards and Owls.
Our favourite is our Hoopoe who visits every year and calls out its calming, reassuring and steady “Hoop-Hoop-Hoop” from the top of our tall pine tree. He is a very fine bird, quite large in size with a long slightly curved bill, a pinkish-fawn head and breast, an impressive crest and black and white striped wings.
* photo by j m carg
We also have other regular visitors such as wild boar, porcupines, foxes, hares, and stone martens.
Indeed, this area of South Lazio is so rich in Natural Beauty – It is blessed with the best of many worlds:
The nearby Coastline with its sandy beaches, rocky crags and coves, hidden caves and sheltered harbours …
Yet closeby here in Itri we have the dramatic Aurunci Mountains and their Protected Natural Park. Much of the rock is limestone, and the scenery is ever changing as the mountains spectacularly tumble down to meet the sea.
Also locally there are several more wonderful Protected Natural Reserves to explore:
Sperlonga has the Roman Ruins of the Villa and Grotto di Tiberio and Coastal Path
Fondi has the Ausoni Mountains and 3 Coastal Lakes with dunes which form a peaceful natural haven for diverse wildlife.
In Gaeta is the Parco di Monte Orlando which has dramatic rocky crags and cliffs overlooking the beautiful Gulf Of Gaeta.
In Scauri is the Parco Suburbano di Gianola e Monte di Scauri
In San Felice Circeo there’s the extensive and varied Parco Nazionale Del Circeo
There are also stretches of beautiful coastline which have been designated as Marine Natural Park, collectively known as the Oasi Blu, which is maintained by the World Wildlife Fund WWF, that ensures optimum water quality providing an ideal environment for an extensive variety of marine life. Therefore these areas are popular with scuba divers.
All of these nature reserves are an absolute paradise for nature lovers and bird watchers, providing tranquil habitats for numerous animal species, particularly a wide range of bird life ranging from birds of prey, to sea and water fowl.
All the parks have well signposted hiking trails which traverse wonderful varied terrain, providing magnificent vistas and panoramas of the mountains, coastline and nearby islands. There are also routes suitable for mountain biking. We have a selection of useful maps and local guide books.
So all in all Tre Cancelle
is an excellent base for discovering and exploring
the boundless natural beauty of South Lazio.
Perfect for True Lovers of Wildlife and Nature.
Come and see for yourself !!!
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You may recall that back in August some of our American guests found two puppies abandoned by the roadside.
What could we do other than take them in a look after them? They were just six weeks old, starving hungry and covered in fleas and sores from flea bites.
See our previous post:
http://trecancelle.wordpress.com/2010/08/07/101-evas-journal-two-abandoned-puppies/
Well just to report … Yes they are still here with us. They are now approximately 12 weeks old and have grown about three times the size and are well and strong.
However they are both little characters. The male, “Mini Max”, now just named “Max”, as he is not exactly mini these days, is naturally very calm, docile, very loveable and cuddly, but is also a keen escape artist.
Max
The female, who was originally named “Little Lizzie” we now more often call “Busy Lizzie”, as she is always up to mischief and somehow manages to rope in “Max”.
Busy Lizzie
We use a plastic washing airer on which we peg clothes out to dry, and have regularly found items missing or strewn on the ground, or even worse – used for a tug or war.
“Busy Lizzie” also just loves digging, especially digging up my lovely collection of potted plants, the remainder of which we have had to move onto the back patio for safe keeping.
However one day the gate was left open and the result was puppy mayhem.
They are also keen on a good old “rough and tumble”.
We have asked around our friends if they could possibly help by taking on a dog or two, but sadly there have been no takers. Not far from here there is a large kennel, a compound run by the local Comune for the many dogs that have been abandoned in the locality. We are told that the dogs are well looked after, but it doesn’t seem that they have much of a life in there.
So the total of “Woof-Gang” members currently stands at 13.
As you can imagine it is quite a job looking after them all.
Our kindly vet, a nephew of our dear friend and Doctor, comes up to help us from time to time.
All the older dogs have just had their booster vaccinations for this year, and the puppies have also now been inoculated. The Vet is so kind as he only charges for the medication and not for the time he spends here. We are always deeply endebted to him.
Paul has recently befriended a couple who run a Butchers shop in Itri. Once or twice a week they put by some off-cuts and large bones to boil up.
The bones are so large that Paul has had to cut them up with his chain saw.
The resulting meaty broth certainly gets the canine noses twitching !!!
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More About the Tre Cancelle “Woof-Gang”:
http://tcdogs.shapcott-family.com
Any donations to the “Woof-Gang” Fund always gratefully received.
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At the end of August we were delighted to have our younger son Ben, his “other half” Emma and “Baby Bump” to stay. They are expecting a little arrival at the end of November and were both much in need of a relaxing holiday. This was to be Emma’s first trip to Italy.
Although their stay here was all too brief, Ben and Emma managed to fit in ….. a couple of days at the beach …..
some local sight-seeing (Sperlonga) …..
and a day in Rome.
We were all kindly invited to our friends, Luca and Loredana’s home, for a special meal to celebrate Luca’s 50th Birthday. Buon Compleanno Luca !!!
By the way -such a landmark birthday is shortly looming for
Paul this October !!!
One day we were also invited to San Donato and Atina in the Val di Comino and enjoyed another delicious meal with our Italian cousins.
Emma is a very passionate and creative cook and during her stay, delighted in preparing some srumptious food for us all.
Local tomatoes, Mozzarella di Bufala Drizzled With "Tre Cancelle" Olive Oil
Breakfast - Emma's Tasty Potato Cakes
Please come back soon Emma !!!
“Papa Woods” and Emma are about to move into their new home together in Cardiff, in time to get settled before the little addition to their family arrives.
We wish them all lots of love and all the very best in their new home.
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some local sight-seeing
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