Lords of Lucca and Princes of Pesaro: opera and art in Le Marche and Tuscany

Two towns, two coastlines, two composers and both with rich, magnificent histories. Who are we talking about? Along the sandy beach of the Adriatic sits the town of Pesaro while near the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea, encased by its fortified walls, lies Lucca. Every summer both towns come alive to the sound of opera. […]

Q&A: from leftover panettone to income tax

Our experts are here to help with all your questions about Italy. This month, art holidays, what to do with leftover panettone, driving around romantic Puglia, and income tax… Painting landscapes Q: It’s my ambition one day to paint some Italian landscapes for my friends and family. Would you have any particular places you would recommend […]

Into the blue: the Amalfi Coast

Explore the panoramic splendour of the Amalfi Coast and enjoy a very particular style of comfort and hospitality at elegant Hotel Santa Caterina. The Amalfi Coast… So adored for its awesome natural beauty and immortalised in art, literature (even milk chocolate commercials), this corner of Italy will be forever in the collective conscious: even if […]

Railway Touring Company: Steaming into Tuscany

There are many ways to see Italy, but surely one of the most unique has to be by steam train. Mark Nicholls enjoys a nostalgic steam train tour across the Apennines from Rimini to Florence, then to Siena, Pisa – and Pistoia, the home of Italian steam. The air dances, black smoke drifting on the […]

The Lighter Side of Machiavelli

“Go and catch a falling star, get with child a mandrake root…”. This begins John Donne’s poem, and another writer created another literary work a century before, that dealt with a virtuous woman, and with the magical mandrake plant. So begins John Donne’s Song, a poem that was probably written early in the 17th century. The poem lists […]