Whom can we rely on, if not the medical profession?

Hands up who was outraged at the sight of picnicking tourists being hosed off the steps of Santo Spirito by Florence officials? No, me neither. I may even have sent up a little cheer, the way I do when I see police pulling over and questioning a driver. Or when I just see police, for that matter; they may be the topic du jour in the TV debates but, like Gatsby, can be damnably elusive in real life.

Anyway, I digress. I expect the Italian council workers were using cold water, which new US research reveals is every bit as good at removing germs (and, indeed, drenching visitors) as warm water. Maybe so, but having spent the Bank Holiday weekend at an ecocampsite in Norfolk, with cold-water sinks and hot-water compostable loos, I found myself fantasising about a drop of the hot stuff.

But eco is as eco does and the joy of our worthy ascetism was that every tiny treat – a steaming cup of coffee from a freshly boiled jerry can, a flushing lavatory at the nearest Tesco superstore – represented a moment to be savoured with gratitude, even by our serpent’s-tooth children.

These manageable little adversities did us all a deal of good, I think. Although sitting around in collapsible chairs in companionable silence, mindfully surveying the horizon, the clouds, the fritillaries fluttering past, was another highlight.

It was sweet to watch our teenagers cast off their carapace of cynicism.

There’s something very strange and lovely about watching the already young behaving young again: shrieking over nettle stings, having water fights, cartwheeling across the field.

Camping is the last bastion of character-building. Frankly, getting 21st-century teenagers to gather firewood and rinse sea cabbage collected on the shingle of Kessingland beach is the nearest they’ll get to national service.

But they pulled together as a team, got stuck in, fetched and carried. Virtue is its own reward, of course, but by way of thanks, we generously gave them first dibs on hot showers when we got home.