Being English, it was always a question of politeness. We’d already tested the phrase on Mauro, the Sardinian owner of The Good Bear Café in Bath. He’d reacted with nods of approval, so we knew it would work, even if the accent still needed a bit more espresso.

“Possiamo portare il cane?” (sort of: ‘can we bring the dog in?’). The answer was nearly always, “si, certo!”.

Cafes, restaurants, even some supermarkets were clearly open to the obvious charms of our miniature Golden Doodle dog Riley who seemed to smile at every opportunity.

We’d arrived in Rome in late February, after a two-day drive through France, Switzerland and then Italy. Riley had taken the long journey in her stride, curling up in the back or occasionally propping herself up, to look out of the window. She did this for most of Switzerland, clearly enjoying the snow-topped mountain views.