Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1901-01-10
SAW FAMOUS PLACES
Miss Albertina schiewe, In Europ
Writes an Interesting Letter.
SHE IS NOW IN FLORENCE, ITALY
Travelled Thru Many countries-Met
Calvin Mannins's in Paris-Living
in Historical Villa-Her Opinion of
ltaiy--Morals Are Poor.

The following very interesting let
ter from Miss Albertina Scheiwe,
written at Florence, Italy, December
5. has been received by her cousin,
Mrs. Fred Baldwin, of Moberly, Mo-,
and by her forwarded to friends in
Ottumwa who have kindly furnished
it to the Courier for publication.
Miss Schiewe is well known in OF
tumwa, this having been her home,
and she being one of this city's most
talented young musicians. She is
of all want to tell you how glad it
her musical education, and her de-
scription of that country is at once
interesting and pleasing:
Florence, Italy, Dec. 5, 1900
Dear Anna, Fred and Katrina: = /
will answer your several separate let
tiers all in one and will try and tell
you where we are, where we have
been and where we are going. First
of all want to til you how glad it
makes us all to hear from you Each
letter gets read time and time again
until we have imbibed all of the home
land we can. We heard from you the
day before we. left Paris (care Calvin
Manning). The mail is deliv-
cred on Sundays and business goes
on just the same. We are now living
in Fiesole, a little suburb of Florence,
founded before Christ, where Calico
and Milton have lived for time and
where Cataline fed from Rome from
Cicero's inyectives. This climate pre-
serves wonderfully, and everything is
build so solidly of stone and hard,
hard mortar, that the buildings look
newer than many of the new business
blocks in Ottumwa. About three
miles to the south of us lies Florence,
the cream-colored houses with red tile
roofs look like miniature cardboard
toys, SO distinct in spite of the dis
lance. Our villa is about half way
up the mountain of Tiesole, the high
est of those Immediately surrounding
Florence. To the west, on clear
day, we can see some snow-coyered
peaks, beautiful against the vivid
blue sky, and richly colored fore
ground. Then our villa is historically
interesting. 1t was built by the Med
ici-that famous old family who is
the glory of Florence. 1t now belongs
to Prince Rondinella, hence the
name villa Rondinella, whom family
pride will not permit to sell the SUI
perfuous buildings, but he can only
rent them at loss. All Italy seems
damp underfoot The floors are all
brick, no carpets, and at first our feet
were cold all the time. The water
here is fne-from spring which
supplies all Fiesole and it is such a
romantic walk down to the stop-cock
of the spring in the lower end of our
garden. The garden is surrounded
by high stone wall, and on warm
days the lizards come out to sun
themselves. The garden is
full of roses narcissus and
olive trees, silvery gray foliage
and now full of purplish black fruit.
In one corner is thick clump of lau-
rel and oleander trees and in the mid
die of these, kind of natural arbor,
dusky and cool, and an oval-topped
stone table, doubtless hundreds of
years old. Often we drink our morn
ing coffee in this nook and our fancy
ilnagines the proud ladies and sires
.-Eho doubtless concocted intrigues in
this very spot. In another corner
is n real fig tree, leaves
like Adam and Eve used. When we
came quite a number of lucious fruits
Were Sill lelp anu very IOnQ we De-
came of them, but now the leaves
have all been picked to feed hungry
little donkey and very drear that
corner has become. Rosebushes
plum trees, acacias, shrubbery fill up
ander, 30 feet high. Most of the
trees are non-deciduous, SO Christmas
trees are non-eciduous, SO Christmas
here will be like September in Iowa
and Missouri. We have nice side
walks here because the Was (streets)
are not straight, but bend or curve
every little bit giving one most un