Friarielli and Pomigliano

5th April 2006, Naples

It was twelve years ago today that Gigi and I first met in a hostel in London.

I’m sitting in Rosa’s kitchen trying to understand her conversation with Gigi. They are discussing his dreams of running an “agritourism” (eco tourism in English) business (e.g. bed and breakfast / health retreat) in the Italian countryside sometime in the not-too-distant future. Rosa is preparing “friarielli”, a leafy green vegetable grown only in the local Neapolitan region that is part of the broccoli family. We bought six bundles of “friarielli” which will cook down to enough for two. It is cooked with pork sausages (sometimes distinctly flavoured with fennel seeds), garlic, and olive oil. The dish is a local speciality that is a delight to experience. True to Neapolitan style for ingenuity it has also been transformed into a pizza topping.

Rosa is also preparing “scarole” with beans (another vegetable that looks like frilly lettuce but has a bitter flavour and is never eaten raw except by inquisitive foreigners who don’t quite believe that it could taste like anything other than crispy lettuce!)

We’ve spent the last few days concentrating on house hunting, as it’s the current speed bump (or maybe pot hole would be a more appropriate metaphor) in the highway of our Naples life. The criteria keep changing, but I’m confident that something will show itself shortly. Gi and his mother seem to have settled some of their recent differences so we are once again considering living together (don’t send any telegrams!). It will be undoubtedly cheaper sharing the rent and utilities, and easier as they already have a kitchen (yes you take it with you when you move) and white goods (I’m not in love with the washing machine but it’s a damn sight better than washing by hand which is what I did for six months last time we lived in Italy!). The catch is that we need three bedrooms, a shared living space and/or another bedroom (for guests), close to public transport and two separate bathrooms, each with a shower. We looked at a lovely villa last night that met all the requirements except for the two showers. Unfortunately it’s one thing that we can’t share long term. Gi and I are accustomed to using bathmats; Rosa and Irene consider them unhygienic. Irene cleans the bathroom every day; it drives me nuts. I wouldn’t mind if she was our cleaning lady but I’d rather clean it once a week and eliminate the guilt. Four adults getting ready at the same time in the morning is the other problem with one shower, especially when some of us are not accustomed to quick preparations in the morning (not me obviously, who had perfected the art of getting out of bed and being in the office within 30 minutes).

If something suitable comes along we will undoubtedly try and create two private areas where Gi and I can be a couple, and Rosa can smoke. However, we are also still looking for rentals that would suit only two, plus the odd guest. Interestingly, Gi has shifted his focus from the historical centre of Naples to the satellite villages, in particular Pomigliano. We drove through the town centre last night. It’s only a few minutes further out than Casalnuovo where we are currently staying. However it seems like another world. The streets are clean, the buildings are well maintained, the piazza was full of young people, the shops are well presented, and the rents appear to be more reasonable.
For now things continue to be on hold. I’m hoping that we’ll secure a place before Easter…. selfishly because I want my own space and I want to buy a bed. Gigi and I are sharing his sister’s single bed, reminding me of our first bedsit in London with its single beds. Twelve years has passed, and we find ourselves back in Europe not far from where it all started. Who could have imagined!