In 2013, twenty British 16-year-olds, including Gabriel Stewart, rented a remote Sicilian villa for a week of partying and late-night binge drinking. The host, Pablo, and his elderly Italian parents were staying on site, enduring the chaos. Stewart, now reflecting on the experience, offers a belated apology.
The Arrival and Early Warnings
Stewart arrived a few days later than his friends but was the main contact with Pablo. Before even entering the villa, he received a string of threatening messages: the police had already been called after two nights of nonstop drinking. The group was heavily reliant on Pablo for transportation, as the villa was over an hour's walk from the nearest village, which lacked a shop. Pablo had to pick them up from the airport and ferry them to the supermarket multiple times.
Partying Without Restraint
Despite the warnings, Stewart quickly joined the festivities. Loud music and swaying teens spread across the garden and poolside, leaving food, bottles, and cans littered everywhere. Pablo's parents' admonishments did nothing to stop the behavior. One early morning, Stewart, feeling nauseous after a night of drinking, dove into the pool, then crawled to a bush to vomit. As he lay there, he heard shouting in Italian: Pablo's parents were approaching. He crawled back to the villa to avoid conflict.
The Motorbike Incident
A particularly tense moment occurred when Pablo drove two friends across the island to rent motorbikes. They had convinced him they were eligible by pointing to the motorcycle symbol on their provisional licenses, but they were not. Pablo missed his English lesson for the trip, and the hour-long drive back was in furious silence.
A Sorry Farewell
The holiday ended with a pitiful tip: all their remaining loose change, mostly 20-cent coins. Pablo said goodbye at the airport, and the offering did nothing to compensate for the traumatic week. Stewart reflects that they did little for Anglo-Sicilian relations but will always remember the screams of the Italian nonna as he lay half-conscious in the grass—a fond memory of how not to holiday.
