48 Hours in Parma

Mario Matassa spends a packed weekend discovering a captivating world of fine food, elegant locals and compelling history right on his doorstep      Everyone knows Parma. Or, to put it another way, everyone, at some point, has tasted a little slice of Parma. It is a city whose reputation precedes it, synonymous throughout the […]

Top Five: Italian Markets

There’s no better way of buying authentic Italian produce than by rubbing shoulders with the locals at one of Italy’s many bustling markets. Here are our favourites… The Rialto Markets/ Pescheria Venice, Veneto Among the multitude of architectural, historical and scenic ‘must-sees’ and ‘must-dos’ in this iconic city, here is a gastronomic imperative  to add […]

The best views of St Peters Dome

Head to Via Niccolò Piccolomini and if you reach the street coming from Villa Doria Pamphili, the dome looks huge, then ‘shrinks’ as you move towards it, thanks to a strange optical illusion. Also try the top of the Aventine Hill, next to one of the city’s most beautiful examples of early Christian architecture, Santa […]

Where to get the best coffees in Rome

Espresso lovers can never go wrong in Rome. Your coffee will probably be excellent in most of the bars you find.   Yet, according to locals, if you want to drink the best in the city you have to head to the Pantheon: two ‘temples’ to the coffee bean are there, situated within walking distance […]

Is the world’s best restaurant, truly the best?

Massimo Bottura is one the world’s most famous chefs but do his abstract ideas pay off? The restaurant Osteria Francescana, was named number one in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards this year. It is located in Modena and native, Massimo Bottura owns and runs the show. This foodie palace has been in the top five […]

Past Italia! Cività di Bagnoregio

Marooned like a tiny island on an outcrop of crumbling volcanic rock, the once-thriving settlement of Cività di Bagnoregio in Lazio clings to a perilous existence When you catch sight of its precarious position today, it is hard to imagine that Cività di Bagnoregio was once a large, thriving Etruscan city situated on a wide […]

Masters of Disegno

Time to revisit Fra Angelico to Leonardo’ awe-inspiring exhibition from 2010 featuring Italian Renaissance drawings, but as Amanda Robinson finds out, there’s more to it than meets the eye…   With 100 works from the collections of both the British Museum and the Gabinetto Disengi e Stampi Uffizi in Florence, ‘Fra Angelico to Leonardo’ is the most […]

Puglia regional property guide

The slender region of Puglia dips its heel into both the Adriatic and Ionian seas, as it is located at the bottom of the peninsula’s east coast, with Molise as its neighbour in the north, Campania to the northwest and Basilicata to the west. The climate is reliably sunny, and hot and dry in the […]

Bruschetta with smashed peas and crispy pancetta

We love this little bites of heaven! Peas bring a lovely lightness to these mini bruschetta Bruschetta with smashed peas and crispy pancetta or Bruschetta con purè di piselli e pancetta croccante Makes 10 – Preparation 10 minutes – Cooking 20 minutes Ingredients 1 ciabatta loaf extra-virgin olive oil 500g frozen peas 10 slices of pancetta 1 lemon, zested and […]