Thanks for spotting (Gail) and correcting (Brian) my silly typo. (Or was it just an innocent typo? Was it really a sly attempt to nobble the competition? Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?) I hope that anybody who's had trouble sending a submission will try again now that the problem has been fixed.

Many thanks, Brian!

And here's my entry. It's all true, too, except the bit about the Trevi fountain.

Hey friends: You were all wrong about driving in Italy. It's a piece of cake if you have GPS. True, Ms. Garmin tried to send me down a staircase in Siena, and I crossed the Apennines on a series of hairpin curves that beat the most sickening roller coaster ride of my life. I also had to back 300 feet down a one-way street that ended in a cliff in Ancona. But the most fun was in Rome, where I mastered the art of driving on one-lane alleys with cars parked on both sides. Roman drivers are a bunch of wacky cut-ups, but they had to respect me after my dramatic moonlight crash into the Trevi fountain. Fortunately I had collision insurance - don't leave home without it.

The excitement of staying at a historic castle more than makes up for its inconvenience. The view of the mountains is spectacular and I rather like the idea that the nearest village is reachable only by horse-drawn cart. I don't dislike spiders, and as for the rats, they tend to scurry away at the sound of human footsteps. Nor do I mind the occasional bat – speaking of which, one seems to have just flown in through the open window! Our host, an old world gentlemen of indeterminate age, has promised to bring us a bottle from the cellar – although, as he charmingly puts it, he does not drink vine! Here he is! More later…