We arrived in Radicondoli on Thursday afternoon, and, after lighting the stove in an attempt to thaw the near arctic conditions of the flat, we decided there was nothing for it – we HAD to defend our title in the Torneo di Panforte in Palazzo Bizzarrini. After last year’s stunning performance it was a bit of a disappointment that we were beaten, perhaps due to a combination of lack of practice, wine and jet lag!

During the year I discovered a D.I.Y double glazing system which involves thin plastic sheeting, double-sided tape and a hair dryer. LSH was very sceptical about the whole thing, but after some practice, has got it down to a fine art, and has done almost every window and glazed door in the flat.

Later that night I caught LSH Marcus (who is a bit of a bah-humbug about the whole Christmas thing), getting the tree out from its hiding place: under the bed! Unfortunately, I managed to puncture the DIY double-glazing on the door when we were putting the tree up; I have had to repair it with masking tape (well I wasn’t going to go to all the palaver with the double-sided tape, hair dryer, etc!), and thankfully the tree hides a multitude. And now the whole flat is looking very festive!

Tonight there was “Gustando di Radicondoli” in the convent. As we had never been in this building we went half out of nosiness! And we weren’t disappointed, there are some lovely old paintings. There was antipasti, 3 different soups and for dessert panetone, and, the old reliable, panforte. As usual, it was delicious!

Afterwards, we invited Karin into our flat to have her (semi-traditional) Hot Whiskey. She was feeling the cold from the convent – you have to feel for the poor nuns – and so we were doubly glad we had gone to the effort of heating the place up; positively tropical, at 16˚. What wimps we have all become, expecting to sit at home in our T-shirts in centrally heated, hermetically sealed houses!