Wednesday Dec 24th - We arrived at Ancona rail station to be greeted by Gino, it's nice to see a familiar face. Great to see Rita, and smell some home made cooking. Thursday Dec 25th - Christmas Day in Italy. Liam was awake early - surprise! It was quite foggy outside which didn't lift until about 10am, not too cold about 10°C. We had a quite lunch with Rita and Gino, typical Italian meal - first course of pasta being lasagne, second course meat which was m...

Had a bit of drama yesterday. Steve and I had to take Norma to A&E at Sora Hospital, great way to learn how to use the GPS and see if the Italian map works, we had to ask a few directions along the way but finally got there in pretty good time. Waited 7 hrs while she had tests & investigations, then they wanted to admit her. We decided it would be better if we headed to Recanati as we had planned due to all the medico's in the family they could assist us....

We have spent a relaxing week in Arpino, taking Liam to the pool and attending some festivals. Some would be surprised to know that Liam enjoys playing in the big pool putting complete trust in his arm floaties, he splashes all over even trying some swim strokes and talking to everyone. He doesn't like the "english" they speak! This week in August everyone goes on holiday and each small region in the towns (like suburbs in Aust) has a festival. They are outdoor a...