“This is my photo taken in September 2012 in a village called ‘Trait’ in the Italian Alps in Piedmont, near to Turin. The height of the village is 1700 metres. As we were walking through the meadows and forests this view struck me for two reasons. The first being the orderly fashion of the vegetable […]
Reading Dante: From Here to Eternity Prue Shaw, Liveright, £20 (paperback) Dante Alighieri wrote an epic poem about the afterlife that, 700 years later, is still universally recognised as the greatest work in the history of Italian literature. In this introduction to the Comedy, Shaw not only interprets the text but also explains how it […]
Nuvola/Nube (n.f.) Cloud. Bargain: two Words for the Week for the price of one! You may think. But it’s not really. It’s more like one and a half. As we’ll see… Here the Italian words are very different from the English one. ‘Cloud’ is Old English – and is actually related to ‘clod’, as in […]
Are you starting to think about taking a short holiday on the Italian Lakes? Check out these selected companies for ideas and inspiration… Lake Como Homes Imagine gliding over a shimmering lake with stunning skyline peaks as your back-drop. Now moor up and relax at a lakeside café with a glass of wine, a plate […]
Bill’s Italian Food Bill Granger, HarperCollins, £20 (hardback) This is definitely worth making room for. Filled with easy, everyday recipes to whet your appetite, each page is as colourful as the next. The biggest problem is deciding which meal to make first! Bill Granger, a self-taught cook and international restaurateur, is a firm believer in […]
“On a recent visit to Lake Garda I had a day trip into the Dolomites and was struck by the majesty of the mountains and the admiration for all the cyclists who ascend the Pass of Pordoi where this was taken while waiting for the cable car.” Reginald Murray
Make this Spezzato di Pasqua by Amy Lucinda Jones for a hearty and nourishing meal – the perfect antidote to all those Easter eggs! Ingredients: 1 stock cube olive oil 1 garlic clove, chopped into two pieces (to be removed later) about 300g of lamb (no bones) chopped into fairly small pieces and with all […]
Carnevale (n.m.) Carnival The tradition of Carnevale has never truly been part of the Protestant tradition, but its history in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches is ancient and rich – the Venice Carnival has been going strong since 1268, except notably for a few years at the end of the 18th century when the […]
Photographer Iain Reid visited Venice Carnival with his camera and his Native Venetian Girlfriend, Sara Scarpa, who showed him the sights of Venice Carnival from the Venetian perspective. See many more of his great images in Italia 114. For more information on this issue, click here. Look for Iain’s shots of Venice Carnival […]