Picturesque city near the sea, Dom You must be a good swimmer. Also home to Bruno Conti - the player with a sweet left foot who often played on the right wing.
Parents passed away by the time I was about 15 years old.... Hospitality College boarding school and then a couple of years work, in a Rome 5* hotel, before leaving for Germany in 1969. Very young, with only a couple of friends, having to cope with german xenophobia, turkish and greek "we were here first" attitude and associated ganging up, slav anti-italian sentiments.. It was a bit of a struggle, but I became very fluent in German, to pass for a westfaeler from Bonn....... In the south in Stuttgart... Then in 1974............. UK vacation......... Still here...
Not only that but The area pre-dates Rome. Lots and lots of history From Nero and Cicero having their favorite villas and estates there, to young Conrad Vom Schwaben (Charlemagne grandson) being caught after seeking refuge there and then beheaded in Naples. Richard the Lionheart sought rest there on his way to the Crusades, Operation "Shingle", or better known as the Allied landing north of Salerno, to bypass Montecassino and take Rome. **** floats............ Not only good old Bruno.. We are proud and always be, of our Baseball teams over the years. The Trophy room is awash with cups on cups, Italian Champions time and time again, European Champions a few times and presently working very hard to bring back that spirit and success of yesteryear... A couple of Gold winning Olympians thrown in, poets, painters, Saints and a very old affinity with Ipswich dating to Henry VIIIth, and his penchant for burning RC Churches and symbols...
To avoid the statue becoming firewood, a bunch of faithful put it on a ship sailing for Costantinople. Legend has it, that a fierce storm broke out around our coast, and the Captain, fearing the worst, decided to bring the statue ashore and place it for safety in a little chapel by the beach, welcomed by the locals. When the storm subsided, it was loaded on the ship again. But another storm broke out, even worse than the first, So the captain, understood that the Lady of our Grace did not want to leave such beautiful and welcoming place.. Nettuno is twinned with Ipsiwch The chapel over the centuries, grew in size and now it is our Basilica, and in the original crypt, we have the mortal remains of our Saint Patron , Saint Maria Goretti, in a crystal casket. Every time I return home, I have the compelling feeling of having to visit and pay homage to the two things that bind every "Nettunese" as part of a family. This year, after my daughter's wedding in Jersey this past April, I had the perfect chance to go back for the first week-end in May, traditional procession, when the Lady of Grace is taken from her place, to the oldest church in town, and then back on the Sunday, but both things, due to the Covid-19 virus were cancelled. This was something that I wanted to re-experience for many, many years. https://www.santuarionettuno.it/
Drove from Wrexham, on a few occasions, very leasurely. To Dunquerque first. Go north into Belgium, stay at the Ibis in Leuwen, quick dash to the Atomium. Morning after, into Germany, stayed in Nierstein with friend of the wife, Vist the wineries and vineyards, in the morning all the way to Munchen, Ibis again.... wake up refreshed, drive to the Fernsehen Turm and varius other sights, and finish off onto the Brenner Pass, through Austria into northern Italy and to Trento. Meet an old friend of mine, have a nice evening together, reminishing about our troubles in Germany as young waiters. Day after train trip into Venice for a day of leisure and selfies galore. Then the long drive home, nearly 500 miles to jus south of Rome. All in all little over 3 days, maybe 4, but took the time to sightsee along the way. Tiring but satisfying. Not a cheap trip at all, but the stuff I can fetch back in the boot of the car is nobody's business
