Annec's activity

A great night, Sarah and Mark, and many thanks for use of your lovely house.  Congrats and thanks also to all those who put in so much effort

For reading in Italian I'd recommend Io Non Ho Paura  by Niccolo Ammaniti It's very much a grown up book, but written from the point of view of a child, and therefore simple prose.Iris Origo wrote a fascinating book "The Merchant of Prato" .  To quote Amazon: "Francesco di Marco Datini, the 14th-century Tuscan merchant who forms the subject of the Marchesa Origo's study, has now probably become the most intimately accessible figure of the later-Middle Ages. In 1870 the whole astonishing cache, containing some 150,000 letters and great numbers of business documents, came to light. The Marchesa Origo has drawn on this material to paint, in detail, a picture of Italian domestic life on the eve of the Renaissance."

Alternatively - using the towel as shown in this video, you could fly there yourself

Have you contacted this lot - http://www.portedelpassato.com/index.htm ?I've never been there but they look to me the nearest that you'll find, though I don't like to think of the cost!I'd be interested to know how you get on.  We actually bought some hand-made thumb-latches throughEbay.  They came from India and turned out to be quite large, but were certainly rustic! good luck Anne

As I've said before - last time I was there there was even someone practising their accordion skills on the steps of their farmhouse.  it could have been 100 years ago, whilst the restaurant itself easily exceeds modern standards

More than one Italian has said to me the "La grammatica e piu facile, ma la pronuncia!!!!"I don't even know what they are called grammatically, but at least the "i,you,he, we, you(plural), they " are easy in EnglishAnd tenses - we just stick a "was", "have" or "had" in front of the ?past participle? and get on with it!I'm told by those without a "th" sound in their native vocab that tree, three and free are also difficult.  Serves 'em right I say, for expecting us to master the Conditional Pluperfect

Oh Serge - if only you'd talked dirty like that instead of spending a fortune at "upmarket" London restaurants, you'd have had them falling at your feet!

.. and Sprostini, you're an example to us all

..I love Castellucio - it's just the most surprising thing as you turn the corner of Monte Vettore and the Piano Grande opens out with Castellucio like something out of Lord of the Rings popping up in the middle.  I've yet to time my visit with the best of the wildflowers, but the landscape is worth it anyway.  And of course there's always the Italy-shaped tree plantation