Italy
On the trail of Piero
Piero della Francesca is today acknowledged as one of the foundational artists of the Renaissance. Aldous Huxley thought his ‘Resurrection’…
Lake Iseo
If you’ve never heard of Lake Iseo, you’re not alone. Nestling shyly between chocolate-box Como and glamorous Garda, the smallest…
The pleasures of Puglia
If Italy is the elegant, over-the-knee boot plunged into the Mediterranean, then Puglia is the narrow peninsula that forms its…
The rarest blend of white and gold
This unusual book is beautifully written, produced and illustrated, but its subject — the small Slender-billed curlew — is strangely…
Murder, he wrote
The allure of Carlo Gesualdo, eighth Count of Conza and third Prince of Venosa, has been felt by music-lovers from…
Pisa
Say ‘Pisa’ and everyone thinks of the Leaning Tower. Fair enough; it’s a curiosity, and the tourist board must be…
Cable cars, cheese and chic on the quieter side of the Alps
‘It sounds like you’re having an Ann Summers party up there,’ a male traveller called, as our group erupted into…
There will be blood
Siena’s Palio is steeped in violence, bribery and corruption. But it matters to its people more than anything, says Jasper Rees
Stewed Siena
The Indian summer was still fending off the mists and mellow fruitfulness. But the autumn term was about to begin;…
Low life
I sprinted through Milan station, speed-read the departures monitor without stopping, and arrived gasping on platform 8 with two minutes…
Florence
The British have always been in love with Florence. First visits cannot disappoint. One friend recalls being herded around as…
Trattoria tour
The Gatto Nero — or ‘Black Cat’ — is in Burano, a tiny island in the Venetian lagoon. It is…
Portrait of the week
Home Talha Asmal, aged 17, from Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, died in a suicide bomb attack on forces near an oil…
The invasion of Italy
More than 50,000 boat people have arrived already this year, with many more expected
Country house opera
I stole a blanket last night. Rather a nice one, in fact. I feel bad about it, of course, but…
Benefits for people who don’t live here? Great idea
Yet another exciting discovery from the world of Islamic science. As you are probably aware, Islamic culture has always paid…
Long life
On election day I was in Puglia in the ‘heel’ of Italy, where interest in British politics could hardly be…
The people from the sea
Encounters with those who have risked their lives to cross the Mediterranean
Indulge your inner reptile
What do you get if you cross renegade psychoanalyst Carl Jung with lizard-men conspiracist David Icke? It is a question…
A deadly silence
One Friday, 28 people were rescued by the Italian coastguard when the boat on which they were fleeing Libya capsized in…
The dreamer
Ian Thomson on the creative limbo that spawned Fellini’s modernist masterpiece, 8½
The Vatican
The sun has only just risen in Rome and we are standing bleary-eyed in a short queue outside the Vatican.…
Venice
I arrived in Venice believing it would reek of sewage. It didn’t. The walk into the centre went through cobbled…
Worshipping la dolce vita
Like so many Britons who chased the dream and woke up in Italy I have contemplated writing a book about…
Diary
Dry January is tougher than it sounds. Well, for me anyway. It’s now been some 28 days since I’ve had…
