Killinaskully meets Fellini

From the hills of Tuscany to the banks of the Danube doesn’t take terribly long by road and air but from Montecatini to Budapest is still quite a cultural and geographical leap.

And even though our new lodgings by the great river now take in a stirring panorama of the Hungarian capital, it’s hard to shake off the spell cast by the small Italian town which the Irish team called home for a week.

And not least because the farewell ceremonials there on Saturday evening brought everything to a memorable and even uproarious close.