Whenever we visited Sorrento,
or rather when we were leaving Sorrento,
the hotel proprietors always gave us a gift, as they did with all their regular
visitors. We’ve had locally made, handcrafted and colourful Italian mugs, cruets, olive oil
containers, an earthenware vessel from which to pour limoncello into matching ‘tots’,
Italian plates, and many other things to remind us of happy holidays.
My favourite gift
was the kitchen clock you see in the picture. It’s a clock that has no glass
over its face but that doesn’t stop it working and it’s stood the test of time
over many years. Because of the absence of winding knobs I always change the
time with caution, moving the hands as gently as I can and cursing the need
to do this twice a year.
A few days ago I
noticed that one of the hands is bent, significantly so, and I KNOW it’s not
me who did it. A process of elimination leads me to think our lovely cleaning
lady has unwittingly caught the finger in a duster ... or something. Fortunately
the clock still works well, even with a crippled finger, and I hope it
continues to because I would miss that clock if something really bad went
wrong.
Does anyone else
have treasured possessions to remind them of vacations?
