The Milanese is a cousin of the
Neapolitan minister Di M------; and the Portuguese (M. de N------) had been
employed by his Government in a diplomatic capacity at Vienna. At Rome I
engaged appartments from the 20th of December for three months and then
started for Naples, with the intention of passing two months there, and
returning to Rome, to be in time to witness the fete at Christmas Eve. At
Velletri I met with a Jamaica family, Mr and Mrs O------, with their
daughter and daughter-in-law; and we were strongly advised to take an
escort as far as _Torre tre ponti_, being obliged to start very early from
Velletri in order to reach Terracina before night-fall. Nothing however
occurred and we arrived at Terracina without accident. The rascally
innkeeper there made Mr O------ pay forty franks for each miserable room
that he occupied, and fifteen franks a head for his supper; he was very
insolent with all. I was rejoiced to find that in one instance he failed in
his hopes of extortion. As he is obliged by law to furnish supper and beds
at a fixed price to those who travel with _vetturini_ and are _spesati_,
he, whenever a _vetturino_ arrives locks up all his decent chambers and
says that they are engaged, in order to keep them for those travellers who
may arrive in their own carriages and whom he can fleece _ad libitum_.
Pages:
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503