From the Apennines to the (A)Pennines

We were up at quarter to five Italian time. The usual getting the car back, getting the plane, And then the drive from Stansted to Embra up the A68. I was back for five UK time.

It was an exhausting trip but it worked. We saw eight houses and some apartments. All those hours in front of the screen paid off. And we met some nice people on the way.

They say you have to see a house in the flesh to know if you like it. It's not so much seeing the house but what lies around it, its aspect, its location all of which is maddeningly obscure in the world of Italian realty. We saw the good. And we saw the bad.

But the adventure has stronger legs for it.