, thank you for all your support this year, a year which has proved to be rather difficult .. yet again.

As we reached November 2021 we started to feel that finally the worst was behind us, that 2022 would be a fantastic year.

Then we awoke up to the news that there was a new variant. Travel restrictions, increased rules and regulations quickly followed.

Oh no!

We felt exhausted. Could we survive another two years of this?

Maria, always the optimist, cheered us all up. We ended up opening a bottle of prosecco and continued making plans for 2022.

We've always focused on the positive, on the joys of life and on the joy of Italy. We would not let this get us down.

I called a doctor friend who works in a huge hospital in South Africa and she told me the cases are mild, hardly any in emergency at all and they are coping fine. In fact, she said, it is way milder than before. This could be the end of it she reckoned.

It was a completely different picture to the drama and panic I'd seen in the UK, US and Italian media.

We decided that we are not going to let it get us down anymore. We ARE going to keep on planning and we ARE going to bring you lots of exciting stories, videos, photos and news from Italy next year.

Together, 2022 will be fantastic.

On that note, I'd like to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Keep safe and keep planning for better days ahead and thank you for being on this journey with us. Without you and our handful of other supporters we wouldn't have been able to have continued. Your support has made the difference. We will be forever grateful for that.

Andrew & Maria

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