ERINDELL VILLA - B and B ?

A room and pool!

Some things in life are hard to believe and most of them are on the negative side; the mindless thuggery of the embarrassing Brits, England's lack of success in penalty shoot outs, the popularity of reality TV etc, but every now and then a positive jumps up into the frame. It's happened, to us, right now. We are staying at Erindell Villa Montserrat. What a place this is. Firstly it's a b and b. and secondly, it's run by the nicest people you could ever wish to meet. True, we are the only guests and have their undivided attention but you get the feeling that the welcome and hospitality they are affording us is the same for everyone that pass this way.

Lou and Shirley live in what used to be someone's holiday villa. There's a pool right outside our room, a limitless supply of reasonably priced food and drink and and hospitality which is astounding. For example, Lou, a retired US citizen from Wisconsin drove us today to an unspoilt local beach where we were the only ones there, enjoying the black sand and solitude and a couple of cold beers he had considerately packed for us in a cold bag complete with a cell phone which we were to call him on when we wanted to come back. Shirley regails us with stories of magic, murder and mystery. Montserrat style, over dinner every night and in her younger days before George Martin's Air Studios were buried under the volcanic ash, was regularly asked to provide BV's for some well known groups who recorded there. She also has also lived on St. Vincent which provided a platform for her and Trish to have a good old natter.

We have a lovely rustic room filled with curious hand made furniture and ornaments, a massive queen sized bed, large ceiling fan (essential), mozzie repellent, wi-fi, cable tv (no cricket), sliding patio doors with swimming pool, recliners, table and umbrella right outside. The Villa is situated 8 miles from the active volcano which, we are informed, is only 'venting' at the moment but next year will erupt again. They recently replaced the wooden roof of their house with a metal one because of the rock strikes that threatened to set fire to it. Lou told of the time when some of these rocks, ejected by the volcano, dropped into the pool and burnt a hole in the bottom, and it was filled with water at the time!

So here we are for four days. Today we have been relaxing, but tomorrow we are going to the observatory, which lies just outside the Forbidden Zone, to get a close up view of the beast which in 1995 destroyed the capital city Plymouth leaving just the spire of the church visible above the ash which fell upon the town. Personally I want to visit those studios but the penalty for entering the Zone is $13,000 so forget it. More tomorrow.

Please leave a comment, you won't see it for some reason but I will.