Italy
Italy’s heading for its own Brexit moment
Though he is a big fan of the European Union, Barack Obama brings bad karma to it. So perhaps he…
A beautiful place to die: Italy and the Romantic poets
People can be mightily protective of their Romantic poets. When I worked at the Keats Shelley House, overlooking the Spanish…
What the world looked like after my brain haemorrhage
When your mind suddenly goes wonky, you may be the one person who doesn’t realise that there is something wrong…
A lesson from Italy on the futility of referendums
As we prepare in Britain for our momentous referendum in June, Italy has just had one. It happened last Sunday…
RA’s Giorgione show is so rich it’s worth returning to several times
Walter Sickert was once shown a room full of paintings by a proud collector, who had purchased them on the…
On the trail of Piero della Francesca
Piero della Francesca is today acknowledged as one of the foundational artists of the Renaissance. Aldous Huxley thought his ‘Resurrection’…
The world is about to discover the wonders of 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…
Stone houses and packed beaches: 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…
Is the Slender-billed curlew already extinct?
This unusual book is beautifully written, produced and illustrated, but its subject — the small Slender-billed curlew — is strangely…
Can this year’s Gesualdo celebrations be about the music rather than the blood and gore?
The allure of Carlo Gesualdo, eighth Count of Conza and third Prince of Venosa, has been felt by music-lovers from…
Beyond the Leaning Tower: the wonders of 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…
Palio exposes the bribery and violence that lies at the heart of Siena’s lawless ritual
Siena’s Palio is steeped in violence, bribery and corruption. But it matters to its people more than anything, says Jasper Rees
Siena shows that northern Italy is just better at getting drunk
The Indian summer was still fending off the mists and mellow fruitfulness. But the autumn term was about to begin;…
Italy is so civilised! Even at a mad dash
I sprinted through Milan station, speed-read the departures monitor without stopping, and arrived gasping on platform 8 with two minutes…
The first things you should do in Florence
The British have always been in love with Florence. First visits cannot disappoint. One friend recalls being herded around as…
Venetian restaurants know I’m English from the back
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…
Welcome to Italy: this is what a real immigration crisis looks like
More than 50,000 boat people have arrived already this year, with many more expected
Country house picnics (with some ace opera attached)
I stole a blanket last night. Rather a nice one, in fact. I feel bad about it, of course, but…
My new plan: let’s pay people benefits for not moving here
Yet another exciting discovery from the world of Islamic science. As you are probably aware, Islamic culture has always paid…
What Italy made of the result of the British general election (not much)
On election day I was in Puglia in the ‘heel’ of Italy, where interest in British politics could hardly be…
How Lampedusa copes when the migrant ships come in
Encounters with those who have risked their lives to cross the Mediterranean
Carl Jung meets David Icke (and writes a book of bonkers business-speak)
What do you get if you cross renegade psychoanalyst Carl Jung with lizard-men conspiracist David Icke? It is a question…
Cameron led calls to remove Gaddafi. Why is he silent on Libya's drowning refugees?
One Friday, 28 people were rescued by the Italian coastguard when the boat on which they were fleeing Libya capsized in…
