Translation of escarola

It turned out that they did not have a license to house foreigners but I was too tired and besides, where else would I go. Furthermore they insisted that I should not bring prostitutes to their home.
Did you hear about the earthquake this morning in Greece. This is really terrible, I think that quite a few viligars lost their lifes and many more lost their homes. I am really sad for all of them.
On our last day we went to visit Stanley, a small town on Honk Kong island, actually on the other side of the mountain. The ride to the town was nice but the town itself was nothing special.