It was so cold and wet!! Especially in Manchester. There the pavements were covered in gum which is nearly as bad as dog poo. I remembered what I liked about my home town - I haven't been for about 2 years - and it's that whatever you want in the city centre is easy to find as it is so small, Florence is probably bigger.

It was great for my kids meeting my sisters and their families and my son has come away with some relatives I know he will keep in touch with.

The travelling was the horrendous part - from leaving Florence to arriving at Gatwick took 6 1/2 hours! Of that the flight is 2 The flight was delayed an hour, but even so..! I won't be doing the trip again in a hurry. Coming back was longer as we flew from Manchester and connected to a flight to Pisa from Gatwick. I now know all the departure lounges really well

What I really noticed was how kind and helpful people were - especially in the North. The concierge at the hotel couldn't get a taxi to pick us up from the party we were at so he picked us up in the courtesy bus ! They are here too, I had just forgotten Brits could be too!

It was great buying cheap books and jeans from M&S - PerUna Roma The UK is obsessed by Italy, I had forgotten how much, but maybe I was looking for it. I bought a paper and all the recipes or gifts seemed to have an Italian theme! There was a great one for Turkey which involves duck and ricotta if anyone is interested - I think Carlos would be very useful! There was also an interesting dessert using Pandoro

Anyway still glad to be back here, as are my kids which was the main worry, as they also caught up with a few friends. Just wanted to share!