Going back another year to 1983...

Going back another year to 1983..., originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

Here I am (on the left) with Simon, my best friend from university. We are on the beach at Trevignano Romano, where we used to keep a windsurfer. Simon came out to stay with us for two weeks, after we had graduated from Southampton University.

This is the beach at Trevignao Romano on the shores of a volcanic lake (Bracciano) just north of Rome, nothing to compare with your wide sweeping beaches in Denmark, but it was pleasant enough. We would drive up from Rome on the Cassia, spread out over the beach, set up the windsurfer, read books, listen to BBC World Service, eat our picnics (usually rosetti with gorgonzola and tomatoes - my favourite) and some peaches or nectarines. The wind would get up in the afternoon every day and this would be the best time to be out on the windsurfer. I remember once that a storm brewed up and we had to hide underneath the sail board because the hailstones were so big they were quite dangerous.

Apart from that, this would be one of the last photos ever made of my friend Simon as he died in a motorbike accident the following month...