A Few of my Favourites!

I am now back home in England after an absolutely amazing trip to Italy. I loved working in the hostel with new and different people coming through the door. So I thought I would write one last post to just share a few of my favourite guests.

1) The Dutch Hitch-hiking Couple

A young male and female who have currently been travelling for 4 months...all hitch-hiking! They plan on continuing this method of travel throughout Europe for a whole year! Their budget skills were enough to rival my mother, I must say - aiming to spend no more than 4 euro a day. This was done by not paying for any public transport, only eating very basic meals and camping wherever they could fit their tent, i.e. not a proper campsite, but orchards and fields (...). On the other hand, they did admit they'd spent nearly 4,000 euro on 'gear' for their trip..including the bags, clothes, tent etc. However, it is all very well living on a budget, but when it affects your personal hygiene, you know you have to reconsider. I don't think these two did. They left a very unpleasant odour even when they had left the room. I could tell showering wasn't top of their list when they were describing some of the people they had received lifts from who had then offered them a place to say 'and a shower!!' (said with extreme excitement). By my calculations I estimated they probably had had around 4/5 showers in the whole four months...as for washing their clothes...i'd rather not think about that!


2) The Chinese Couple..making the most of everything that was free

Two males checked in who had come from China with HUGEE rucksacks (on their back and front) and two great sticks as if they were trekking Mount Snowdonia but were actually just walking through the cobbled streets of Italy. They were very lovely but were obviously also working on a budget. Everything that was free, they had. At 8 o'clock in the morning they both ran downstairs to sit down and connect to the free wifi, plus plugging in every single electrical device they owned to charge. They were so absorbed in the task of finding everything that was free that I had to shout three times if they wanted any breakfast...and when they found out this was included in the 17 euro price for the night, it was like Christmas.

3) The Italian 'Lads on Tour'

When a group of seven 18-19 Italian boys check in, you know its going to be an interesting night. On their way to Amsterdam, the boys were staying the night to catch their plane from Brindisi the next morning. All very cheerful and very excited they were singing and dancing and talking to everyone in their broken English. I guessed it was their first trip away together without parents because they completely wiped out the beer fridge. They were charming boys though and we all sat down and played poker until 2 in the morning.

4) The Crazy Old Woman Staying in Brindisi for Dental Treatment

This lady was absolutely lovely. Unfortunately my first meeting with her arose in the morning when I woke up to go and have a shower and she was stood just in her very large knickers trying to turn the shower on. Unfortunately this was the day when we had some serious water issues. She spoke no English so trying to explain that there was no water and she couldn't shower yet, as well as trying to divert my eyes to anything but her, was very difficult. I found out later she was a regular guest and came to Brindisi to have work done on her teeth...which would have been fine if she actually had any teeth to do anything with.

5) The EXTREMELY Tall Dutch Woman

The hostel offers free pick up from the train station to those who have booked to stay. We got a phone call from a young Dutch woman saying she'd arrived. We went to pick her up and spotted her straight away. She was so incredibly tall she made me feel VERY short, and at 5"10, that takes some doing.


So I just thought I would share with you some of the guests that have stayed in my mind (not forgetting the puking lady and also the Korean ladies with the electric cooker and the saucepan - see earlier posts if you've missed this) and that will most definitely stay with me for a long time.

'Otello' (Othello)...on a budget

So last night I was very excited to have a nice cultured evening going to the theatre to watch 'Othello'..in Italian of course. But Teatro Verdi (the theatre in Brindisi) is very special because, in the process of building it, they uncovered some stunning Roman ruins. Instead of taking a few pictures and building on top of it, the builders preserved the structures and ensured the foundations of the theatre did not coincide with this amazing discovery. So it is built sort of on and around, so you can go underneath and see the Roman roads etc and when you enter the theatre they have used a glass floor so you can also look down into it while in the theatre itself. Stunning!

Well we found our seats and got settled, in the gallery of course because we weren't going to pay 35 euro, and realised that the theatre is HUGEE and could have done with some binoculars. When I looked at the stage I thought it looked a bit bare, but got over this because I thought as the play progressed they would bring out more of a set. But to describe how empty the stage was, there was a huge sheet covering the floor with a few mounds. At first I thought these mounds were people and Othello himself would rise up out of the floor in some sort of magical, suprising way. Wrong. These were purely bits of foam to cushion the landing when Emilia fell to the ground and Iago started awkwardly dry humping her. Hmmm. To add to the unimaginative stage, the back screen was purely blue...sort of like the default screen of the projectors in school before its connected to the computer. In addition, the music and background noises also left much to be desired, consisting of the occasional skwawking seagull and gushing waves. I guess they were going for the 'minimalistic' idea, but then again, there's a difference between minimalistic and purely empty.

Another reason to add to my opinion that this production probably had a 100 euro budget is the complete lack of props. I think I counted a grand total of 5; two swords, one helmet, a roll out map and of course THE handkerchief. Talk about having to use your imagination!

The actors seemed confident, a bit bland, but delivered the lines well enough. However, they were lacking in characters; the play lasted just under 2 hrs, VERY short for old Bill. This must have been because complete scenes were cut out due to only having roughly the main 8 characters. Othello was old, very old. He had greying hair and wrinkles and looked old enough to be some of the actors' grandfather.

Even still, despite the few flaws, it was an incredible experience and hearing Shakespeare in Italian was very different! The theatre was stunning but I can't say the Italian audience are all that encapsulated by Shakespeare, as I spotted multiple people playing games on their phones, lots of talking, two people sleeping and many toilet breaks. I laughed to myself thinking of the English audience and how many tuts and tellings off these people would have got. Overall, I am very glad I went, but if I had paid to see this in the UK, I think I would have left at the interval. 

Sightseeing

 'Tempio San Giovanni' ... a Church built in the Norman Age with a circle plan and 8 columns. On the wall are some incredible paintings...some very faded because of being painted at the end of the 13th Century, but you can make out scenes of the Crucifixion, St Nicholas and groups of Saints.

 One of the scenes depicted on the wall

 Brindisi port and monument at sunset

 'Grotte di Castellana' - at the entrance to hell. 60m deep 120-160 million years old with huge stalactites and stalagmites. Viewed as some of the most beautiful caves in the world because some of the stalactites and stalagmites are pure calcium carbonate causing a crystal-like effect. I went with an American tourist who came to stay at the hostel who was studying Geology, so while the Italian tour guide was ranting on, I got my own private tour from Pete.

 Posing by the fountain in the middle of Brindisi

 Birthday pizza at one of regular pubs 'John Martin's'. (Wearing my new dress mum!)

A 3 day event...Artichoke fair, which involved loads of little stalls with tasters and treats to buy. Artichoke pizza, pickled artichoke, artichoke pate, artichoke flowers, artichoke icecream...artichokes to your heart's content. This lovely little meal consisting of a slice of artichoke pizza, a scone shaped olive bread, some salted biscuits, a pickled artichoke and a glass of wine only cost 50cents! 

A concert in the evening of the Artichoke fair - a band with a lot of members; keyboard players, 2 guitarists, bassist, saxophonist, 4 backing singers, drums and the lead singer. They did a very good cover of 'Knocking on Heaven's Door', which sounded very sweet with their Italian accents.

 A day trip to Ostuni, 'The White City'

All we've had is sunshine! It was so warm we sat outside at 11am till 2pm sunbathing! Before this picture was taken we had our trousers rolled up, I had a vest top on and we were sweating. Hard to believe in January!

Brindisi

 A short distance from the hostel...some completely deserted beaches with the clearest water. The rocks are also very fun to climb on!

 New Years Celebrations - Maurizio's (the 'boss') daughter kindly invited us out with her friends, so we were treated to some Italian wine and music next to the port over looking the water and the City. Everyone was very friendly and greatly enjoyed me trying to speak Italian!

 Climbed a monument in the City Centre and this is the view...overlooking the entrance to the port.

 A Christmas paddle in the water!...and a beer!

 A cocktail night out in Lecce, a 20 minute drive from Brindisi. This is an old Roman Amphitheatre in the middle of the City which was staging a nativity scene and all lit up with Christmas lights.

Exploring some old ruins near to the hostel right next to the sea and a popular place for people collecting some sorts of shellfish. 

 A pastry filled with nutella from a bakery that opens at 2am! It starts baking at 1am, then sells these freshly baked goodies at around 1euro! Absolutely incredible and lovely after a cocktail night

 The bar in the hostel, with the coffee machine...and I STILL haven't mastered how to make a cappuccino

Pizza from another incredible bakery that opens from 11-1 then 6-8. All freshly baked and yummy!

Electric Cooker

So it didn't take long for the next eventful guests to walk through the door! Two South Korean ladies checked in for one night, a mother and daughter, and immediately alarm bells started ringing. I was struggling not to laugh when the mum started flirting with one of the male workers from South Africa here. 'You are very nice looking'...'You are very kind'...etc etc, all in the space of about 10 minutes. I showed them to their room and made sure they were settled and came back into the main living space to settle down for a film with everyone. We then heard a little squeaking 'Excuse me', so I got up to see what the problem was. They wanted to know if there was anywhere they could buy food, but it was a Sunday and around 9:30 so the supermarket was closed, but I told them it would be open in the morning.

We started getting settled, making drinks and quickly checking emails when the power suddenly shut off. We thought nothing of it as this sometimes happens and we ran outside to the power thing place and switched the leccy back on. 5 minutes later, the same thing happens again...we repeat the process, only to find another 5 minutes later it happens again. This only occurs when something that uses a lot of electicity/power is plugged in so Maurizio asked me to check if the Korean ladies were using anything strange. Low and behold I walked in to ask if they did...they shuffled around looking confused and when I walked behind one of the bunks I found they had basically set up camp. They had plugged in a full electric cooker and were busy bubbling something away in a decent sized saucepan! They were very tiny women and only had tiny bags with them so how the heck they managed to lug this thing around god alone knows! I had to explain to them that 1) there was no cooking allowed in the rooms, 2) the electric cooker is NOT allowed and 3) food in general is not allowed in the rooms either.

They tried to protest saying the supermarket was closed but I told them that there were places to buy ready cooked food around...like any other normal person would do.

Oh well, we all found it very funny the thought of people carrying an electric cooker around Europe with them and they were very sweet (despite taking over the bathroom they were sharing with me and using up all the hot water even though there is a massive sign saying 'limit your shower time').

'Interesting' Guest Number 2

So working in hostel means obviously you are going to see some quirky, interesting, sometimes difficult and funny people. And last night was no exception. The police arrived saying that they were bringing a woman in who'd had her wallet stolen and also had got into trouble with her boyfriend...or something along those lines. She ordered 3 shots of something and went to bed pretty early...but was already pretty drunk, seeing as she couldn't understand the instructions that the toilet was the third door on the left.

But anyway, at around 2:30am she came out of the room asking for a glass of water. She looked cold and the heater in the room wasn't on so I went in to turn it on. First problem...the room stank of cigarette smoke and there is no smoking allowed in the rooms. But this was nothing compared to the suprise I then saw when I turned on the light. Next to her bed...a huge pile of vomit. Excellent! So bleary eyed and wanting to go to bed I then had to find the cleaning products and clean a 25 year old woman's puke. Happy days! Even still, she did seem very distressed from whatever had happened that day so I gave her a bottle of water and another blanket...but I still went and slept in another room.

But anyway, everything here is going very well and despite the vomit situation, that hopefully won't happen again, its an experience that I wouldn't be having in England!

Next Stop: Italia!

Sorry that this post is so delayed! But I have arrived safely on my second trip to Italy, where I will be staying for 6 weeks. I am living in Brindisi which is South Italy and is a small City with a very beautiful port. I found this experience through a website, HelpX, which, in exchange for light work, I am provided with food and accommodation. With this website I found this hostel, Carpe Diem, where I am required to do basic tasks; checking in the guests, tidying up, laundry, bar work, assisting with cooking, washing up, helping the guests when they need anything and any other odd jobs that are needed. I have also completely swept a HUGE drive of all leaves and dirt and scraped away the plaster of a wall which is the beginning of a redecorating project. Aside from this, I am given time to be able to explore the city (which involves getting a small ferry across the river, which takes less than a minute). I have visited some gorgeous, very old churches and buildings that are stunning. And of course, I have eaten some INCREDIBLE pizza.


One quite funny but at the time very nerve racking experience was when a couple came to check in who had made a reservation. Everyone else was out so I was left holding the fort and this was my first check in solo. Everything was going well and I did all the computer business and took the money and I was chatting away making them feel welcome as I showed them up to the room that they had reserved when oops it turns out whoever they made the reservation with had booked them into a room which belonged to one of the long-term guests who stays here. I had to think quickly and make sure they did not gain a bad impression so told them to wait while I hurriedly thought of the number of another room that had a double bed where they could be alone. Luckily I remembered and rushed down to get the key and moved them along. PHEW. Drama over and they were happy. They also asked for a lot of toilet roll, two in one day at one point...which is worrying..but the customer is always right and has to be pleased so if they wanted toilet roll, toilet roll they got!

Also, HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone. For some reason, it is not letting me upload any photos today but I will try again another time. Hope everyone is well and these posts interest you in some way!