EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY INNS
ill-furnished," says Burnet, "both for lodging and diet; this is the plague of all Italy, when once one hath pass'd the Appennines; for except in the great towns, one really suffers so much that way, that the pleasure of travelling is much abated by the inconveniences that one meets in every stage through which he passes."[1]
Misson's general estimate agrees with Burnet's: "'Tis by no means convenient to travel in companies in Italy; the inns are so miserable that oftentimes they can neither accommodate their guests with meat nor beds, when they are too numerous."[2]
Nugent improves upon Misson, whose phrasing he slightly varies but without acknowledging his source: "But 'tis very improper to travel in large companies in Italy, for the inns are generally so very miserable that oftentimes they can find neither beds nor provisions when the company is too numerous. To prevent therefore the inconveniences of a bad lodging, those that do not carry a complete bed with them ought at least to make a provision of a light quilt, a pillow, a coverlet, and two very fine bed-cloths, that they may make but a small bundle." One may travel very easily with these conveniences rolled up in a sack, lined with waxed cloth, three and a half feet high, and less; than two in diameter, when full; which, being light, is easily carried with the portmanteau and is of no charge. "However, if this should appear troublesome, 'tis advisable at least to travel with sheets, and upon coming to an indifferent inn you may call for fresh straw and lay a clean sheet over it."[3]
On this matter the English tourist Sharp remarks: "It is curious to observe how careless they are of damp sheets all through Italy, and the people at inns are so little apprised of an objection to damp sheets that when you begin to beg they would hang them before the fire, they desire you will feel how wet they are, being prepossessed that you mean they have not been washed."[4] Sharp was an inveterate fault-finder, whom Baretti rightly took to task for misrepresentation, but even Baretti admits: "The
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- ↑ Travels, pp. 146, 147.
- ↑ New Voyage to Italy, i2, 585. Cf. also Duclos, Voyage en Italie, Œuvres Completes, ix, 167, 168. Duclos says that the inn at Viareggio was the only one in Italy, outside the cities, where his party found a good supper and clean beds.
- ↑ Grand Tour, iii, 37.
- ↑ Letters from Italy, p. 17.
