A Day in Castel Volturno

Yesterday was a very wonderful day.  Mark and Donna Lunnsford, who we met on Bone's (Kevin's) first day at work, invited us to see the home they'll soon be leaving in Castel Volturno, as they return to Poulsbo, WA.  The Lunsfords are AWESOME, and so was the day they generously gifted to us. 

At 9 AM Mark and his friends arrived in two cars to carry all six of the Bonners 30 minutes northwest to breakfast and lunch at their beautiful villa.

We were given the grand tour.  The house has beautiful grounds with lemon trees, a vegetable garden, ample parking, and adorable statues in the courtyard.  The villa is gorgeous with marble and tile everywhere.  It has six bedrooms, four bathrooms, two spacious living rooms -- one on each floor, a large kitchen downstairs and a smaller one upstairs, at least three balconies, and an enormous roof to play on.  The landlord, Paulo, built it himself while raising five little girls.  He and his wife Anna now live in another house which he built inside the same gated compound.   They keep the grounds immaculate.  The Lunsfords adore everything about living there: the short walk to the beach, the short walk to the open air Saturday market, the bakery, the pizzeria, the ancient little town full of cobblestones and chapels and shrines. 

Most of all, the Lunsfords love their neighbors.  They loved us.  They love Paolo and Anna, they love Paulo's extended family who live nearby, they love the people they know in the town, they love the sellers at the market, they love the nephew of the neighbor who they met on the street.  They remember everone's names and greet everyone with kisses and handshakes.

We were escorted to the Saturday market, where we had a lot of fun, and I also learned that haggling over toys doesn't work when the children are standing there grabbing things.  (The toy-seller's smile said it all, and I grudgingly paid 15 euro for toys worth MAYBE 5 euro.  Don't take kids to market.  Valuable lesson.  Education is often expensive.)

We walked into the lovely old town.  Two small dogs (belonging to Paolo and his family) decided to escort us along the way, and they remained with us along the entire hour-long walk.  They were so cute! 

Along the way Mark led us to knock on Theresa's door, just to say hi.  Theresa is a lovely woman who works in the same department as Mark and Bone.  She invited us in, greeted us with kisses, and whipped out some yummy cookies for the little boys.  She was sweet, and a good sport, considering the curious little army she had invited in! 

Theresa's darling 15-year-old daughter Stephania appeared suddenly with kisses for Bone, me, Mark and Donna.  I was very amused by her entrance, because Bone didn't see Stephania until she was suddenly kissing him.  His eye's got so big!  She was showing very good manners, but my dear husband is not yet used to Italian hospitality.  It was priceless. 

It was an amazing day, and we are so grateful to the Lunsfords for the unforgettable gift they gave us which was their overwhelming love and hospitality.  Oh how I would like to be like them some day.

So now we must only decide if we'd like to live there.  It is well within the housing budget the Navy has given us.  It would mean a 30-40 minute bus-ride twice per day for the children, and a 40-minute commute for Mr. Bonner.  And that is absolutly the only draw-back.  Truly a difficult choice. 

So what would you do?