My beautiful friend’s beautiful manifesto
Dante’s Beach, Ravenna When I was still beautiful, a famous Italian TV art historian and politician chose me to be…
The truth about the peacocks of Punta Marina
Dante’s Beach, Ravenna Daily life in Punta Marina, the next little town but one from me here on the Adriatic…
Our local nudists are running wild
Dante’s Beach, Ravenna It was midnight, more or less, and my middle daughter, Magdalena, 18, said with all the untroubled…
Meloni is being haunted by the ghost of Berlusconi
The late Silvio Berlusconi has come back from the dead – momentarily, it is hoped – to torment Italian Prime…
My heated argument about Italy’s birthrate
Dante’s Beach, Ravenna We were having dinner in the Osteria del Tempo Perso (The Hostelry of Lost Time). It is…
Will my Italian family finally support England in the world cup?
Dante’s Beach, Ravenna I was at the wheel of our Land Rover Defender on Wednesday with my middle daughter Magdalena…
Italy is now stuck in the legal dark ages
Giorgia Meloni has suffered the first significant defeat of her three-and-a-half-year premiership. The Italians have roundly rejected her plans to…
The Epstein Files, the naked communist, and me
Dante’s Beach, Ravenna I was parked up in the Land Rover Defender on the narrow road that runs alongside the…
Has Giorgia Meloni really turned against Donald Trump?
I often think that the dissemination of news is like a game of Chinese Whispers. Giorgia Meloni, for instance, has…
How the culture war came for the Italian opera house
The Italian communist philosopher Antonio Gramsci taught that for the revolution to succeed it should conquer the means of thought…
My wild house parties with Rose Wylie
Dante’s Beach, Ravenna I rang up my old best friend, Luke-John, for a chat a few days ago and to…
My family is divided on the meaning of ‘genocide’
Dante’s Beach, Ravenna We were en route to the junk shop in search of a pair of robust tongs for…
Could our chicken-killing dog sniff out a fortune?
Dante’s Beach, Ravenna Maria, the boisterous new vizsla who gives the old one, Rocco, such a hard time, was in…
Why Brigitte Bardot terrified men
My teenage self was right. Brigitte Bardot, who died this weekend, symbolised sex and freedom. It’s why I had a…
The Italian approach to cheating
Dante’s Beach, Ravenna The unseasonably warm wind blowing in across the fields from the brooding Adriatic caused my wife Carla…
My family dinner table debates about Gaza
Dante’s Beach, Ravenna I was in the Land Rover Defender with Rita, my youngest daughter (16), parked up near Dante’s…
My run-in with airport security
Dante’s Beach, Ravenna ‘Welcome back, signore!’ said the woman in uniform at the all-seeing security doorway which passengers must walk…
My Italian family believe Meloni is complicit in genocide
I would like to ask readers for help. My Italian wife and our six children, aged 10 to 22, believe…
The immortal beauty of Claudia Cardinale
Claudia Cardinale, who died this week aged 89, was one of few Italian actresses to achieve global stardom along with…
Stromboli is at war with goats
Those in charge of Sicily have at last swung into action after a quarter of a century of inactivity to…
Was I the victim of a sex crime?
Dante’s Beach, Ravenna I went up to her and got straight to the point: ‘What are you using for bait?’…
France has become Italy – and not in a good way
France is taking the place of Italy, it seems, as the basket case of Europe. The turn-over of prime ministers…
Meloni is winning her war on left-wing squats
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has won what looks like a significant victory in her quest to eradicate squatting. About…
How Italy’s ‘new young’ party
Dante’s Beach, Ravenna The Feast of the Assumption began for me just after midnight with a WhatsApp message from my…
Is Italy really doing better than Britain?
Dante’s Beach, Ravenna News that Italians now enjoy a higher standard of living than the British made me think: my…
