Dear Jo,

We got back from Italy late last Saturday night - and I had a concert at lunchtime Sunday(!) but wanted to contact you as soon as we could to thank you for letting us stay in your flat in Nettuno. It is a truly wonderful place and we were not expecting such a fantastic location with the sea on one side and all the activities of the borgo on the other.

Both sides were busy most of the time we were there, and I could recount many stories (which I shall no doubt dine out on over the winter) of the idiosyncrasies of Italy from the family weddings with the priest having to act as traffic cop to get one out and one in quick succession to the outstanding displays of bella figura on the beach and promenade.

The thing we loved most about Nettuno was that it is absolutely Italian. We barely heard a word of English the whole time we were there and felt that we were seeing the country for real rather than a tourist version. It also makes one try to speak Italian, though once I offered my apologies (in Italian) the man at the deli counter at PAM rather proudly said we speak English here (much to the surprise of his colleagues, I think, who clearly didn’t).

The delightful lady in the little shop in the next piazza (Lena) was very patient and I became a regular customer for bread and olives and Nettuno wine. She would serve me ahead of other customers, and once, when I went back for a pinch of pepper, in reply to my ‘quanto costo’ gave it to me saying ‘niente, signor’, and shooed me away.

Bridie and Charlotte spent many hours on the beach and in the sea, and Bridie was thrilled to be in a place where she could actually wave to me on the balcony while she was in the waves. No problems paying for beach space; they ignored us probably because C and B stayed in the sea most of the time and swam. Some Italian people seem curiously to avoid going in above their knees though I admit it is difficult to use a mobile phone, smoke and swim at he same time and this must result in some hard choices!

Bridie made friends with a little girl of her own age (9) on holiday from Milan, and she and Desiree have promised to write to each other (as will she and Silvia, Teresa’s daughter but more of that in a moment). Of course we spent a lot of time in Rome and the train service is very good except for when it quite literally comes off the rails – which it did once to the train ahead of ours. This didn’t matter because we were only at Padiglione and so our train returned to Nettuno.

We saw all the sights of Rome – Coliseum, Vatican, Piazza Spagna etc, and also went to the Trastevere and the Forum.

Even though it was hot we walked most places and by the end felt that we could find our way around central Rome quite well. Bridie discovered the cat sanctuary at Torre Argentina and went back with presents for the cats, spending a full afternoon playing and brushing various friendly Roman moggies while I went to the Trajan Markets.

We also took the ferry to Ponza for the day and discovered more beautiful beaches and bath-water warm sea.

Teresa and Armando picked us up at the station the evening we arrived and escorted us to the flat. We had to negotiate our way round the stalls in the piazza, but it was a wonderful introduction to Nettuno to see the local artisan’s products even though the religious picture man (I swear) never sold one thing the whole time we were there unlike the honey man who people busily buzzed around well, like bees.

Teresa also brought Silvia round the night before we left and they and Bridie went out for gelato and bubble-gum! Teresa came back the next day intent on having Bride and Silvia photographed together, but couldn’t find a photographer available (hardly a surprise on a Saturday morning). I took some nice photos of the two girls on my digital camera which perhaps you can pass on to Teresa if I email them to you. Teresa whisked Bridie and Charlotte off on a whistle-stop tour of her family, including breakfast at her brother-in-law’s gas station, and then took us to the station. Amazing!

We left the place pretty clean and tidy I think, but anyway left Teresa 75 euros (and nearly all of a bottle of grappa) which I hope will be OK. She is an absolutely delightful and funny person.

My only very small comment is that it was very hot while we were there and the local teenagers do have a tendency to noisily hang-out on the marina below until 3am. The odd fan would have allowed us to increase ventilation and I was tempted to buy one. But this is a small quibble at a place which is little short of a paradise. I was going to dare suggest that you rather undersell it by not pointing out the manifest delights rather more strongly and perhaps putting up slicker photos on the web-site, but perhaps you prefer a low-key approach. I certainly wouldn’t want it to be any different and would recommend it to people who want a real feel for Italy and to experience the country and its people without the intrusion of international tourism.

So once again, so many thanks for a wonderful holiday and we hope we can go back again very soon.

With all best wishes,
Stephen, Charlotte and Bridie