Apparently, he wanted to stay in Australia, but Alessandro's mother wouldn't leave Italy to go and be with him, so he returned to Italy, which really is sweet - and to think that they'd been corresponding for 6 years by letter: not like today with Skype, and blogging ...
Last night, Alessandro also invited me to have dinner with him - he made a speciality from his home region (Treviso), and got some gluten free pasta for me - really yummy, and nice to have a good home-cooked meal: and my last night in Italy was my only pasta night!
So, let me give Alessandro a totally biased, but honest and heartfelt plug - if you ever go to Venice, then I can highly recommend staying with Alessandro at Venice-BB-Venezia (http://www.venice-bb-venezia.com) - the rooms are comfortable, the service great, and Alessandro a wonderful host; not to mention, you only have to cross one bridge to get there from the train station (which believe me is a real bonus). Gina the self-appointed tail-wagging (and slightly vocal) welcoming committee is also a delight.
Cheers Alessandro, and grazie mille - I really enjoyed meeting you, and getting lost in Venice!