Sulmona

Everyone except Bundle, C and I went on a long walk today. While Bundle had a lie-in, I went for a blip stroll around town. Around lunchtime the three of us met up for a beer and then decided we weren't hungry enough for lunch. C went off to do some work, and Bundle and I had a slow amble back to the hotel. There we sat down in the bar, started to chat, and just went on chatting. Eventually the receptionist brought us coffee and cake, we chatted some more, and read our books till we decided it was time for a glass of wine.

Despite Lorenzo saying they would be back earlier today, the others didn't arrive till about 7. S and D were supposed to be arriving on the train from Rome about then ... thanks to my knowledge of Italian railways' special website dedicated to late trains, I was able to track its progress and announce that it was 35 minutes late. 

For simplicity I booked us into the hotel restaurant for dinner, and eventually all eight of us were around the table for another good value meal. The only other customers were a large group of Canadians. At one point one of them brought in a massive basket of figs and handed them round -- they were delicious. Then they brought on the champagne and insisted on serving us too. When Bundle asked what they were celebrating, they said, "Friendship." That seemed a good thing to celebrate, and we toasted Canada too.