The Albergo Grotta Crimea

The entrance to this hotel at Chiavenna is through a covered court-yard; steps lead up to the roof of the court-yard, which is a terrace where one dines in fine weather.  A great tree grows in the court-yard below, its trunk pierces the floor of the terrace, and its branches shade the open-air dining-room. The walls of the house are painted in fresco, with a check pattern like the late Lord Brougham’s trousers, and there are also pictures.  One represents Mendelssohn.  He is not called Mendelssohn, but I knew him by his legs.  He is in the costume of a dandy of some five-and-forty years ago, is smoking a cigar and appears to be making an offer of marriage to his cook. [261]  Down below is a fresco of a man sitting on a barrel with a glass in his hand.  A more absolutely worldly minded, uncultured individual it would be impossible to conceive.  When I saw these frescoes I knew I should get along all right and not be over-charged.