Time to polish up my Italian language. Just 4 more days before I'm off to Bella Italia. For one week I will be a guest in the B&B of my friend who’s story inspired me to write my novel. It is just a 45 minute drive from Naples, if you take the shortest route. However, I prefer to take the longer route south-east and pass the high rise buildings of Naples, the Mount Vesuvius, Herculaneum and Pompeii. This gives me the ‘true’ feeling of being back in Campania, my favorite region of Italy. From the highway you can get a glimpse at Vietri sul Mare, the gateway to the famous and spectacular Amalfi Coast, with its lovely blue and yellow majolica dome. After peeking at the coast, I will turn inland, to a small village with only a 1000 inhabitants, where I will spend the rest of the week.
I love contrasts. That is one of the reasons why I love Campania. From the moment I step out of the airport, there is something exciting. There is chaos, there is life, there is drama! There is a thrill... Laws that apply in the rest of Italy, simply don’t count here. Naples is a world on its own. Not specifically the best world, but it is different. And I happen to like ‘different’. And contrasts! The contrast between the city of Naples - with its total anarchy - and the island of Capri where everything seems to be totally in place and part of a film set, for example. The contrast of the spectacular cliffs of the Amalfi Coast, the rolling hills of the Cilento National Park and the forests of walnut and hazelnut trees in the provinces of Avellino and Benevento. Bellissima!
I will spend my week interviewing my friend, tasting the atmosphere of Campania again, getting even more inspired, taking pictures and enjoying the culture, the people and the food. Currently translating the almost 100 questions that popped into my head to ask my friend from Dutch into Italian - a challenge at itself. And in between making a scheme for my 12-year old son for that whole week, looking at houses with my mother in law and accompanying a school trip for a whole day, I need to pack somehow in the next few days! Now you understand why the chaos of Naples attracts me… it almost feels like home ☺ Love, M.
