Anzio and Nettuno
09 August 2014

We did the trip to Nettuno in the dinghy and proceeded to ask directions to the American Military Cemetery. One kind lady with a baby on her hip said she would drive us and rearranged her car with baby capsule, toys, inflatable li-lows and 2 teenage daughters, so we could all fit in. She did have a car to accommodate us all and the elder of the girls spoke fairly good English and chatted all the way. What a wonderful gesture.
The cemetery......what a humbling experience. I can update the figures on what I previously had mentioned. 7861 war graves arranged in gentle arcs on beautiful green lawns beneath rows of Roman pines and on the white marble walls of the chapel are engraved the names of 3095 of the missing whose remains were never recovered or identified. All lost during the Battle at Anzio beach. Very sad to find 23 sets of brothers, 21 buried side by side. They have a great interpretive centre where you spend a lot of time.
Today we had planned to leave Anzio but we seem to have developed a problem with the new refrigeration unit. So being Saturday we thought we should get it sorted today so after getting up at 5am we changed our mind about leaving. Well!! that gave the Guardia di Finanza BIG boat to come along side, then come on board for a look, give over our papers and passports. 6am it was, Gary suggesting they were after overtime rates, but they were very courteous and gave us a clearance paper and left after about 45minutes. Lat time we were in Italy it was the Guardia Costiera who rounded us up. All good, and Gary went ashore to find a refrigeration mechanic. Found one, he has had a look and is coming back at midday. Hopefully we'll get away tomorrow.