Foxy Knoxy to be reunited with co-accused lover Raffaele Sollecito, her father reveals, as he describes how she spent her first night and day back at home

• Sollecito will fly to Seattle to spend time with his daughter, Curt Knox claims
  
• The former couple plan to speak online soon, he adds
  
• Knox enjoys first day of freedom in her home city, Seattle
• She celebrated with a spicy meal and playing with young cousins
  
• Parents reveal prison routine that got her through four year nightmare
• Lawyer suggests she's ready to cash in on story
• Started writing a memoir, which she could now sell for millions
• Kept exercise regime of sit-ups and push-ups in her cell
• Woke up early every morning and kept herself to a schedule
• Painted watercolours, played her guitar and played with other inmates' kids

By Paul Bentley for the Daily Mail and John Stevens for the Daily Mail and Hugo Daniel for MailOnline
Updated: 09:33 EDT, 6 October 2011

Amanda Knox will be reunited with the former boyfriend who was jailed with her, her father has revealed, as he described in detail how his daughter spent her first day back home.

Raffaele Sollecito, 27, will fly from his native Italy to spend time with Knox in Seattle after they were both released from prison on Monday, Curt Knox said.

'Raffaele... will probably visit Seattle and it will be very nice for them to actually see each other again,' he said this morning as Knox enjoyed her first day back at home in the U.S. since being acquitted of the brutal murder of English student Meredith Kercher.

Knox was going out with Sollecito when they were both arrested for the murder of her flatmate, British student Meredith Kercher.

Scroll down for video

Consoling: Amanda Knox with her then Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito shortly after the murder of Meredith Kercher. He is expected to fly from Italy to Seattle to be reunited with his ex-girlfriend.

Getting back together? Raffaele Sollecito plans to fly to Seattle to spend time with Knox, said her father

Tearful:  Knox appeared shaky and exhausted after her flight back to the U.S. She was freed on Monday after an Italian appeals court threw out her murder conviction for the death of room mate Meredith Kercher

Mr Knox said his daughter was very tearful as she caught up with family.

Asked what she ate on her first night back, Mr Knox gave a clue, saying: 'I don’t know everything that they’re allowed to eat in prison, I’m sure it’s fairly bland so I think getting a little extra spice was probably good for her.'

Knox's stepmother Cassandra added: 'She’s exhausted, ecstatic and overwhelmed. She has tons of emotions right now but she's extremely happy.'

'Last night was about surrounding her with people who love her and now she is safe,' she told RadarOnline.

'We are going to help her get back into the swing of things. She is a very strong girl and has a lot of people who love her and a great support system.'

Asked if Knox and Sollecito had spoken on the phone since being freed, Mr Knox said: 'I'm not aware that they did.'

Sollecito arrived back home near the southern Italian city of Bari yesterday.

He was quoted by Italian news agencies saying he was looking forward to seeing the sea, but he declined to make any appearances after reaching home.

Celebration: Knox's stepmother Cassandra Knox stands outside her home in Seattle this morning

His father Francesco said his son remained stunned by the events. 'He is trying to recover himself,' he said.

'He is going around touching things as if he is a child who needs to take back the things of his life, to acquire forgotten elements.'

Sollecito is not the only former romance that Knox is hoping to be reunited with though.

She is also expected to rekindle her friendship with David Johnsrud, the boyfriend with whom she broke up when they left the University of Washington to travel on exchange programmes, he to China, she to Perugia.

Johnsrud, who Knox affectionately called 'DJ', exchanged daily letters with her during some of the time she was in prison and has always maintained her innocence, leaving open the possibility of a reconciliation.

But things may not be as awkward as might be expected if Sollecito visits Knox in Seattle.

When asked if he was jealous when he saw photos of Knox kissing Sollecito, Johnsrud said: 'No, Amanda is her own person.

Home at last: Amanda Knox has been reunited with her friends and family in Seattle, but her beloved Labrador Ralphie was not at the homecoming because he died while she was in jail

'She is free to do as she wants. Besides, I like Raffaele. From what Amanda told me, he was very kind and respectful towards her.'

Knox’s stepfather also spoke today about Amanda’s relationship with Sollecito.

‘He’s been through hell too. I think he’s doing the same thing [catching up with family in private]. They don’t need to be talking right now, because they both just want to hang out with their family. They will stay friends and they will be chatting at some point,’ Chris Mellas, who is married to Amanda's mother Edda, said.

Former love: Knox is also said to be hoping to be reunited with David Johnsrud, who was her boyfriend before she left for Italy

He hinted that Sollecito may soon be able to contact Amanda online but didn’t elaborate in what form. ‘I know he just got connectivity but he’s not on it right now,’ he said.

Mr Mellas revealed that for the time being she is in a secret location outside of Seattle to avoid the glare of the world’s media.

‘She’s not in Seattle, she’s not even in King County. It’s not a hotel.’

Mr Mellas would not elaborate on where she is staying, but revealed it was him that managed to drive Amanda from the airport to a secluded location yesterday.

He said: ‘There were two vans which were followed by the helicopters and she was not in either. We planned beforehand to make sure she got some privacy.’

Speaking about last night’s celebration, Mr Mellas said close family and friends did enjoy a few drinks with her but would not be drawn on the detail.

Meanwhile, Knox's lawyer added that the 24-year-old is ready cash in on her remarkable story, admitting she had 'a great appreciation' of its worth.

As Knox started to enjoy the freedom she has so longed for, her mother revealed how she survived four years in a terrifying Italian prison.

Edda Mellas today told how, determined to keep herself together mentally and physically, Knox developed a regime of daily rituals and exercise behind bars.

She kept herself to a rigorous schedule of push-ups and sit-ups in her cell, with walks in the prison's exercise yard helping the former athlete to keep herself in shape.

Knox woke up early every morning as she tried to recreate her normal life outside prison and spent her recreation time playing her guitar in the prison chapel and playing with other inmates' children when they came to visit.

'Amanda would wake up early, make herself coffee, then go out for one of her two hours of outdoor time,' Mrs Mellas told People magazine.

Knox spent 22 hours a day inside an 18-foot by 13-foot cell she shared with as many as three inmates in Perugia's Capanne prison during her 1,427 days inside.

The tiny cell had one bathroom, a small TV, an electric pan cooker and a radio that Knox bought for $20 in the prison shop, People reported.

Despite the stress of her imprisonment, Knox 'had a schedule, which she maintained; she didn't just lay in bed all day like some inmates,' her stepfather Chris Mellas told the magazine.

'She made a point of washing, changing her clothes, looking after herself. She tried to maintain a certain dignity.'

Knox 'cleaned her cell frequently' and kept her few possessions of a few books, CDs and clothing tidy, he added. 'She's a bit of a neatnik.'

Locked up: Knox kept up her exercise regime during her time at Capanne prison in Perugia

Homecoming: Crowds applauded as the BA flight carrying Amanda Knox touched down in Seattle. Many had waited for hours

The 24-year-old was allowed eight one-hour visits and four 10-minute phone calls per month.

During the visits from her friends, they would sit around in a circle holding hands, while her friend braided her hair and her parents gave her hand massages.

Knox had tried to continue with her studies for her linguistics major at the University of Washington for a time, but let them go after the guilty verdict in 2009 when her concentration waned.

To keep her spirits high, Knox would go to the prison chapel to play her guitar and would paint watercolours.

'She loved it when the nuns brought in the children of the other inmates,' Mr Mellas told People.

'They climbed all over her and hugged her. That was one of her favourite moments of the week.'

Sources close to Knox also revealed today that she began writing a memoir while in prison, reported CBS News.

The writings are expected to be worth millions of dollars if they are published.

Theodore Simon, the family’s U.S. attorney, told NBC News today: 'I believe she has a great appreciation of how worldwide this story is.

'She’s going to make these decisions as things go forward, but I can tell you – and I’ve been a criminal defence lawyer for 37 years – I am amazed by how strong she is, and how healthy she seems.'

Last night, looking shaky and exhausted, Knox made an emotional thank you speech from the airport, addressing all those who stood by her since her murder conviction and saying: 'Thank you for being there for me'.

Summoning the courage to speak after her flight touched down, she said: 'I’m really overwhelmed right now. I was looking down from the aeroplane, I felt like it wasn’t real.

'Thank you for everyone who has believed in me, who has defended me, who has supported my family.

Overwhelming: Knox and her family are surrounded by hundreds of journalists at the press conference at Seattle airport, below, wellwishers at Seattle Tacoma airport

'I just want – my family’s the most important thing to me... Thank you for being there for me.' 

Her appearance was met with loud applause from those who had waited all day at the airport to see her.

Earlier she held her mother's hand and cried as she appeared for the first time on home soil since her trial at a press conference at the airport.

The 24-year-old had served four years of a 26-year prison sentence after being found guilty in 2009 of the brutal sex murder of Meredith, 21, who was found semi naked with her throat cut in her bedroom of the house the girls shared in Perugia, Italy.

Knox has been planning her home-coming celebration in detail since the early days of her incarceration, drawing up an exhaustive list of things she wants to do now she is finally free.

Notes from the diary that detectives encouraged her to keep reveal the extensive plans she had made, and even the list of 42 guests.

Knox's father, who revealed to MailOnline that he initially thought his daughter had again been found guilty of murder, arrived home at around 6pm yesterday evening in a taxi with family members, not including Amanda or her mother.

Neighbours lined the streets and cheered the family home. Friends pored out of the house to greet them with their two family dogs Jacques and Chase.

But neighbours said that the family had asked them not to plaster the area with 'welcome home' signs out of respect for the Kercher family.

Curt Knox refused to reveal where his daughter had gone, but it is thought she was taken to a private location with her mother and some of her closest family and friends.

Curt left his house an hour later and is thought to have joined the rest of the group.

Speaking outside his home in Seattle, he revealed his daughter wants to enjoy simple pleasures, such as lying on a grassy field, before completing the degree she never got to finish while incarcerated in Italy.

‘She’s overwhelmed,’ he told MailOnline. ‘She’s been in prison for almost four years and to be able to get out and just try to get back home and get back here where she grew up and everything was just very overwhelming to her.

Home sweet home: Wellwishers leave flowers on the doorstep for Amanda Knox at her home in Seattle, which is bedecked with welcome posters

Celebration: Preparations for Knox's homecoming in Seattle. Her family is believed to be organising a party for the 21st she never got to hold

‘The first things (Amanda will do) I think will be some of the simplest things like you know laying down in some grass. She’s been in a concrete prison for four years and the simplest things you take for granted she hasn’t had.

'So probably something as simple as that and then she’ll try to just start re-adjusting, reconnecting with all of her friends and family and stuff like that.’

Amanda is now hoping to finish her degree at the University of Washington which was interrupted by her Italian ordeal.

‘That’s going to be one of her goals, getting her diploma for the university hopefully. That’s probably where she’ll start. I think this experience is going to possibly change what she wants to do with her life and that’s still to be determined from her.

‘I’m not going to say she’s enrolling tomorrow by any means but I suspect that’s where she is going to finish her degree, yes.’

Welcome: A sign is posted at a record store in the West Seattle neighbourhood where Knox arrived last night