The Republican journal., 1904-01-28
CHRISTMAS IN NAPLES.
T Home Letter from Mrs. Emma Abbott Fisher.
CpAND EDEN HOTEL. NAPLES. Dec

| Home Letter from Mrs. Emma Abbott Fisher. ]
| GRAND EDEN HOTEL, NAPLES. Dec.
26, 1908. My Dear.Friends: am going
to try and write you line today to let
YOU know how we and where we are.
| We left Boston the 5th of December,
with it's snow and ice, and after very
pleasant trip across the ocean, stopping
at the Azores and Gibraltar, we arrived
here the the 18th to meet blue skies
and warm weather, and roses and lilies
everywhere. Some people might not
like Naples, but to me it is perfectly
fascinating. This is the first cloudy
day we have had. Our hotel is charm
ingly situated and the sanitary arrange
ments are perfect l sit in my room
with the doors and window wide open
and enjoy the balmy breezes and scent
of the roses. Our garden has the most
gorgeous beds of hot house flowers and
the trees are bananas and palms.
should be perfectly contented to linger
here for weeks, like it so we'll. The
| only drawback is that our friends can
not be enjoying it also. Although we
have been here many times we like it
just as well. 1t has been particularly
interesting at this season on account
of the Christmas festivities. They do
not make more of it in a religious way
than in other places, but there are
many old customs still observed. We
went to the "Rag Fair" and the fish
market on Thursday. At the "Rag
Fair" all kinds of old ragged things are
bought and sold, and the people them
selves were mass of rags. We did not
get out of the carriage, but could see
the mass of people crowded so thickly
that it was almost impossible to move.
The fish market was very interesting
also. There is a certain kind of fish
that everyone buys TAT Christmas.
They look like eels to me and have
muddy taste, but an Italian told me
that the people will pawn their vau-
ables rather than be without them.
Our Christmas here was very interest
ing, and l was glad it was different
from New England Christmas, for
now holidays are rather sad to me since
| am homeless. And l cannot imagine
anything worse than holiday in an
American hotel, where nothing is done
to make you happy. Here it is so diff
ferent. Everything is done for your
comfort and happiness, and all these
little things count when you are away
from home. There are only about
; twenty-five guests in the hotel; ten of
them are Americans, six English and
the rest are Germans. After break
fast when we went to our rooms we
found lovely bouquets on our tables,
sent from the garden by our landlord,
consisting of Marched Neil and La
France and white roses, and red and
white pinks and blue Iris and many
white flowers that do not know Then
when we went to lunch at one o'clock
we found the dining room beautifully
= decorated. But the best was at dinner
at seven; then there was in the arch in
the dining room, which contains three
/ large mirrors, twelve feet by six, the
most lovely sight. Small electric lights,
very near together, ran across the tops,
and wreath of oak leaves surrounded
them and the arch, and in that were
placed at intervals of few inches the
flags of of all nations, American, Eng
lish and Italian predominating, Roses
were everywhere, bouquets on all the
tables and sprays at all the plates.
Our dinner was of six courses, besides
the desert and fruit. The pheasant
was served with a whole pheasant on
the end of each platter, and the Christ
mas pudding was burning