A 64-year-old British woman from Wolverhampton in the Midlands received a postcard from Nisyros this week, 22 years after her niece mailed it during a trip to the Dodecanese island, press reports in Britain revealed yesterday.

Wendy Bosworth said she was astounted when the postcard, slightly scuffed and enclosed in a sealed bag, dropped onto her doormat earlier this week. “The postcard said how the island was not affected by tourism and how the sea was beautiful and the people were very friendly,” said the retired bookkeeper. She added that her niece, now a government official working in Uganda, had been “amazed” on hearing the news. “She said, ‘I wondered why you never said thank you,’” Bosworth quipped.

A spokesperson for the Royal Mail apologized for the delay. “It’s a bit of a mystery, I’m afraid, as we don’t track items of ordinary mail,” she said.