Deadly serious

Here is the man, and my namesake, that connects all these cousins, here with my brother, Dan.

Katarina met up with four of her cousins, all girls, and we visited Narni for Katarina's first proper ice-cream in Italy, so far it's been sorbet. Despite the language barrier they communicated well and it's fun to see Katarina enjoying herself as I did more than 20 years ago. I too met my own cousins and it's somewhat strange to see everyone older but so few of the years in between.

We visited a nearby town where bodies that had been buried over hundreds of years had been preserved like mummies by a rare fungus. The bodies were on display in glass cabinets with their contorted faces and, for those where it is obvious, their marks of death, including hanging, stabbing and the plague. We couldn't take any photos so here's a view from another nearby town, but I've forgotten which one because the spectacular views are visible from everywhere.

A loud thunderstorm rained heavily all night and only cleared by the morning leaving enough cloud to take the edge off the sun. On our trip to the nearby towns we stopped off at this rock wall used for climbing. It wasn't in use but anyway Katarina didn't have the right shoes to get far up the rock.

This lake feeds the waters of Cascata delle Marmore. There are beautiful views across the lake but Katarina occupied herself with stone skimming (across the water), if that's what it's called, and building a small sand castle, until the sun set and the temperature dropped a little.

Our first trip out is to the local waterfall, Cascata delle Marmore, originally formed by the Romans to drain the local waters of disease and eventually carved into its modern form over the centuries. It's now the largest artificial waterfall in the world and the largest of any in Europe. Tourist paths across the falls provided a pleasant cool spray against the warm humid weather. At 6pm they turn off the falls and redirect the water back into the powerstation.

After a short train journey we are met by my cousin, Carlo, and his daughter, Lisa Jane. In Italian style we are immediately treated to my favourite Tuscan bread and Katarina's favourites: pasta and then sausages. It also makes a change to eat local food and not what's flown halfway round the world.