Villa Marinella

This is a special, special place and I would gladly go back there tomorrow. The owner treated us like family friends, bringing coffee every afternoon and little pastries for the children, dashing out to put on the pool pump every time we used it. She also gave us homemade limoncello and apricot jam. We were given printed information about the villa, and about anything we appeared interested in, as soon as we asked. Despite the fact that we spoke no Italian and she spoke no English - google translate was a life saver. The place itself is abundant, fertile, and you can understand why the Romans invented so many gods to explain all the wonders of nature there. We were allowed free run of a very large garden and encouraged to use all the herbs and vegetables in our cooking which we did - the tomatoes, basil and aubergines were gourgeous. The lack of air conditioning was not a problem at all as the villa, which can be no more than 5 years old, was wonderfully cool at night. The pool was a little chilly, ok for adults and fine if you kept moving but the weather wasn't great when we were there which probably explained it. The area is also amazing - the little shop in town sold Nonna's own ravioli and wild boar ragu (both wonderful, and the latter sold in a plastic tub that I returned). They simply could not do enough to help and when I had a headache and needed paracetomol, they didn't sell it so a member of the family nipped home and brought me one from their cupboard! The antique forge restaurant is a dream, eat there as often as you can and see my other review about that. Things I will remember - the swifts nipping down into the pool to catch midges every afternoon, sunsets over the plain between these mountains and Salerno, picking mint growing wild in the street, each garden sagging with good things to eat, geckos sprinting from every nook and crevice, gently swaying in the hammock in the early evening, and that limoncello pouring direct from the freezer.