Top Five Spirits & Liqueurs

From the sweet and fruity to the bitter and boisterous, Italy has an impressive heritage of alcoholic tipples. We had a lot of fun picking our five of the best… Grappa One of Italy’s oldest alcoholic drinks, historians speculate that grappa may have been around for up to 1,500 years. It was probably developed in […]

Travel essentials for your next holiday

Take a look at this inspiring selection of travel essentials, gadgets, gizmos and kits, all available to the weary traveller. What will you choose to help turn a trying trip into a dream destination? You’ve packed your clothes, reading books, favourite sun hat and passport and, of course, your shades. Could you have missed an […]

Learning in style: Speaking Italian in Le Marche

Speaking Italian isn’t all about cramming verbs and vocabulary as Amanda Robinson discovers when she takes a language course with a difference in the heart of Le Marche. The fragrant aroma of our morning caffè rises up from the iron lattice table, strewn with notebooks and dictionaries as we wrestle with the basics of Italian. A […]

Hidden Rome – Part 2

The second part in the series, click here for part 1 of Hidden Rome Previously, we visited one of the earliest surviving Christian ruins in Rome and Nero’s summer residence, Domus Aurea. This week we relax in the open spaces at the Diocletian baths and investigate the the mysterious and tragic stories behind the tombstones at Campo Cestio, the […]

Events this weekend – Milano Moda Donna

If you’re the type of person who goes gaga for Gucci and crazy for Cavalli, you’ll want to pencil this prestigious twice-yearly fashion show into your diary Okay, so many of the events are invite only, but it’s worth going along just to catch a glimpse of the glamorous guests on the red carpet. And […]

Sole wrapped in prosciutto with bay leaf sauce

Sogliola al prosciutto crudo in salsa d’ alloro

Sole fillets marry very well with Parma ham and combining both with a simple sauce of shallots and bay leaves makes this a lovely main course dish. For guests who don’t eat meat, simply cook the fish without the Parma ham. Sole wrapped in prosciutto with bay leaf sauce – Sogliola al prosciutto crudo in salsa […]

Maddalena Archipelago

With crystal clear blue waters and a rugged granite coastline, the picturesque area of the Maddalena Archipelago has to be the perfect summer retreat… The Maddalena Archipelago consists of a group of seven large islands and several smaller islets that litter the stretch of the Strait of Bonifacio between northeast Sardinia and Corsica. The main […]

Hidden Rome – Part 1

Don’t let traffic fumes and tourists get you down in Rome… there’s so much to enjoy in Italy’s vibrant, bustling capital, without bypassing its history and beauty. If you’ve been elbowed out of the way once too often at the main attractions, Lorenza Bacino has some ideas of where to go and what to do […]