I knew our first day living in Villa D’Amore would be a long one. I entered and saw my beautiful new cucina, table and chairs, in person, for the first time! Then I practically ran into the bedroom to check out my new bed. These were my only possessions in Italy, except for the beautiful dishes I had just picked up in Positano and the extra suitcase of linens, bath towels, a Pottery Barn duvet cover made in Italy and a down comforter I had brought with me.
The many other home furnishings I would need would have to be purchased locally, and I had decided the more local, the better. The Casalvelino area is a small somewhat remote area and I felt it important to support my local town and businesses. I knew there was an Ikea located near Salerno, about an hour and a half north of us, so I had come “armed” with an extensive list of items I had compiled by walking through my local Ikea in Philadelphia. But my plan was to buy as many things as I could from the closest Supermercato, right down the hill from me.
After a quick view of Villa D’Amore, I quickly departed for the Supermercato, my first local activity. It was almost 1:00 pm by now and I knew at some point they would close for afternoon siesta, and not reopen for a few hours. What I didn’t know were the exact times.
As I entered the store, I immediately got some interested looks. After all, this was the end of November and tourists or foreigners (aka stranieri) were not commonly found in the area at this time. I was greeted first by a nice lady who inquired if I was German (Deutsche?). I replied “No, Americani”, and got a huge smile. I then had an exchange that consisted of her local dialect, my beginner Italian and some charades. Both parties seemed to feel we understood each other. She then took me to some of her work colleagues and made introductions. One thing that really surprised me was – Philadelphia Cream Cheese.
In the Supermercato, the food is on the main level; upstairs I found a wealth of household goods ranging from crystal wine glasses to toilet seats and chandeliers to pasta pots. I immediately went upstairs and began grabbing everything in site that I needed starting with the important items like a corkscrew and wine glasses (no need to explain this one, right?) and a toilet seat. Yes, Villa D’Amore came with a toilet, but not a toilet seat! This is apparently a very personal decision. So, after I filled my cart to overflowing with pots, pans, glasses, etc., I went downstairs to check out.
Once outside the store, I realized that they had shut all of the doors and turned off the lights. “Oh”, I thought, “this must be the start of siesta”. Later, I learned that these nice ladies had kept the store open 30 minutes past the start of siesta just for me!
As I returned to Villa D’Amore with my “catch of the day”, I turned around to look at the hill behind me and squealed with delight as I spotted a rainbow (arcobaleno). God’s sign to me that all was well and I was where I was supposed to be!
P.S. Rainbows are very meaningful to me and follow me wherever I go. For more information please see the Facebook link below to Rainbow Blessings and visit our YouTube channel.
mezzogiorno living 
Oh the good memories are flowing back!
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