Italian ESCAPE

The trip was meant to be an adventure, but had June made a terrible mistake?

- Elizabeth Crosbie

June walked through the sandstone arches into the small cobbled courtyard. Setting her suitcase down, she looked around, but she was alone.

Walking over to what looked like a restaurant, she peered inside through the glass door.

In the gloom behind it she could see rows of tables, neatly set with wine glasses and cutlery, but not a single other soul.

Hanging just inside the door a small sign declared... Chiusa.

Closed. At least her 214-day streak on her Learn Italian app hadn’t been wasted. Apart from a couple of nervous-looking cats skulking at the edge of the little square, the whole place was completely deserted. The only sound was the twittering of birds as they wheeled around above her head.

Sitting down on the marble steps in front of the door, she reached into her bag for the plastic pocket containing her travel documents - passport, boarding passes, train and bus timetables - all meticulously printed out, important details highlighted in fluorescent green and pink. It was her first trip abroad in years, her first solo trip ever, and she hadn't wanted to leave anything to chance.

It had become something of a habit with some of her friends to celebrate big birthdays with a group holiday, but until recently, June - the sole breadwinner in a household that included her husband George and their three children - had turned down invitation after invitation. Too hard up to pay for the whole family to go, she also found herself too riddled with guilt to go on her own.

‘Please keep asking me!’ she would say, waving her friends off for yet another continental celebration, happy for them but overwhelmed with envy. ‘One day I’ll make it!’