A DAY TRIP TO SCRUFFY ITALY

"Ma, Pa and Chump swam nearly the whole time."

T H U R S D A Y,  1 0  A U G U S T

I wore Chump’s fab skirt. Jolly decent of her to let me.

After a lot of flapping we were at last ready and set off for Italy! After we’d been going about 20 minutes Mummy suddenly said, “oh no, we haven’t got the car documents.” All her fault – of course. Which is extremely unfair as she did everything this morning to get us organised. So we had to go all the way back, but actually it didn’t take us long.

It’s funny, Italy is completely different to France. It’s not half as nice, and desperately scruffy. It seems to be a country of smells, peeling posters and pasty people! I wasn’t struck on it at all, and the towns were perfectly dreadful. But the sea was absolutely beautiful, turquoise blue near the coast, and very dark further out. 

Finally, at 1.30, we stopped. The place was called Diano Marina. It had a beach, which is what we wanted; it was terribly scruffy. Hired a cabin, and Mummy and me cut and buttered bread.

“We ate on the beach and sat right at the front so we wouldn’t see a mass of people.
”

Ma, Pa and Chump swam nearly the whole time as there were marvellous waves and it was shallow for miles out. I didn’t because it ruins my fringe, although Ma, Pa and Chump pestered me like mad.

Honestly, Italian boys live up to their ghastly reputation. They’re awful flirts, you sense it immediately you enter the country. As Mummy says, there can’t be enough girls to go round. Two boys came up to me while I was by myself, needless to say, plonked themselves in front of me and started staring. I refused to take any notice, and Mummy told me they went on to another girl. On the way back we had tea in Alassio - a bit smarter than the other places - at a very nice café on the promenade. Had super ices: choc, citron, strawberry and vanilla. 

Driving home was deadly, the traffic was so foul. It was nice coming back into France, almost felt like coming home! Had fab chicken for supper – on the spit again. Daddy was superbly cheerful. 

Had a bath - feel superbly clean. 

Diano Marino in the 60s