Best-laid plans

March was due to be a busy month for Nick Symondson but things didn’t go quite as expected...

- Nick Symondson

This year started off well. My wife Angela and I are of a certain age, and March 30 was to be our golden wedding anniversary, and we were not going to let it go by without a splash. We had never been to Vienna and so the hotel, the concert and the Spanish Riding School had all been booked in good time. Most unlike me.

Next, our holiday company whom we have been with since Margaret Thatcher swung her handbag, phoned us and asked whether we would be prepared to act as Fawlty Towers-type inspectors for a small hotel they were planning to take over in Tuscany. All we needed to do was pay for the flights and they would do the rest. Well, it was going to be a bit close to our Vienna trip, but why not?