Writing Nook #11: Casa Ristretta in Apricale, Italy
I really am a terrible travel blogger, aren’t I? Not only do I not get to go to the places I write about (excuse me while I give my crazy noggin another sound thumping for that), I keep no kind of schedule. The trains in Naples run more on time than I. (Remind me to tell you about that most interesting night my sister and I spent under the Naples train station sometime. My life might be extremely boring at times, but when it picks up it really does outdo itself.)
Anyhow, it is has been a month since I’ve shared a writing nook with you. A horrendous blogger indeed.
Well, I am here now and with me is a little place where I could happily scribble away a decade. Truly. Give me ten years here and oh the stories I and my old jalopy of a mind could write.
Since I believe you have waited far too long for this already, I will stop talking now and let you enjoy…
Casa Ristretta
Apricale, Italy
Apricale, Italy… I’ve always dreamed of hiding away a lifetime in a hill town such as this.
As if being tucked into a traditional Italian hill town wasn’t good enough, the Casa Ristretta sits right next door to the south of France. If one tires of a long slow devilishly deep massage of the soul, one can Fiat over to the Cote d’Azur and have a tryst with the fast, fevered and rich. At only $73 per night, there would be coin enough for many dalliances.
The town square of Apricale decorated for Valentine’s Day. Talk about a setting in which to write a romance!Not often does a room seem to hug you. This bedroom does. I feel a fetal position nap coming. I’ve developed an odd attachment to this little kitchen. It reminds me of my grandmother’s farmhouse, I suppose. Warm and simple, buzzing with summer bees.I’d bathe in the twilight hours here with only the lantern tucked into the wall as my company.I do like a place without an abundance of mirrors. If I wish to see myself, let me search the experience out. Don’t bore with me ease.The covered terrace provides safety from the elements while not losing a single button on its finery of view… (I leave this abominable little caption by me in just to show very bad metaphors sometimes happen to us all.Is that a Chia Pet in the window? I do hope so. I could bounce some story ideas off the little guy.
As has become custom around here, the images are all linked to their source… https://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p1672097
Acclaimed author of 17 novels (my dogs and mother adore me),
World traveler (I’ve felt the Sahara Desert between my toes… still gobsmacked over the stars in the Sahara)
And survivor (of three dirty-fighting gremlins named Anxiety, Panic and OCD)…
My name is Chloe Stowe.
Hello.
If you’ve found your way here, you’ve most likely arrived on the coattails of my blog, The Words and Madness of Chloe Stowe. Started in 2012, my daily rantings now number in the thousands. Ranging from humorous to moody, poignant to absurd, these tiny tidbits of thought began as a way to get my name “out there.” It has long since morphed into an effort just to “be there” for anybody out there struggling with words or madness, like me.
Quick biographical sketch of me?
Nerd turned nut at nineteen.
In my sophomore year at Auburn University, I was taken out at the knees by severe panic attacks. Chronic anxiety soon joined the dogpile, followed shortly by OCD tendencies.
Oh, it was ugly.
I eventually had to quit school and soon quit life, as well. I spent a good chunk of my 20’s not able to leave my room.
Twenty years later, it’s still can get ugly in my head. Thanks to meds and doctors, however, I am able to lead a better life, now. I still can’t work outside the house, but I can live and smile and write.
So, here I am.
Broken, but stubbornly present.
I hope my voice proves company to someone lonely out there.
Thanks for reading!
Chloe Stowe View all posts by Chloe Stowe
One thought on “Writing Nook #11: Casa Ristretta in Apricale, Italy”
Tiptoeing Soul 
One thought on “Writing Nook #11: Casa Ristretta in Apricale, Italy”