Mandy's First Visit
Posted On Friday, December 27, 1991 at at 6:49 PM by AlvinA few collegues drove me out to the Roman countryside and showed me the beautiful volcanoe lakes of Albano and Nemi and I was sure Mandy would find it nice to live in this part of Italy for a while. She came over to spend Christmas in Frascati and we flew back on separate flights - she went from Fimincino to Heathrow and I went from Ciampino to Gatwick but we later caught the same airport coach back home, fun ! We spent the New Year in Cambridge catching up with friends and our teenager cats, Spikes and Punks.
Settling Down In Frascati
Posted On Thursday, December 12, 1991 at at 6:36 PM by AlvinI have hardly the appropriate words to describe the "first generation" of my co-workers other than we seemed to have been assembled from the Frankenstein Factory - full of odd parts. Luckily, I have settled down in my job with fair ease and enjoyed it very much.
I was tasked with looking after part of a computer operations that included running a data transcription chain from raw satellite media to optical discs and it was this project that led me to meet my best friend, Fabio. We worked on the European X-Ray Satellite (EXOSAT) operation and became great company although my Italian and his English did not go beyond a "ciao" in the morning, a lot of hand gestures, nodding and computer screen pointing but we always had a full smile. Here's Fabio, Roberta and Gianmarco with us.
I managed to move in to a flat in the middle of Frascati, a little town in the Castelli Romani. The tiny balcony had a full view of Rome that was 20 minutes' drive away.