Acclaimed author Emylia Hall set her novel, The Thousand Lights Hotel, on Elba. She tells us about the favourite places and characteristics of the island that inspired her. Elba, the largest of the islands in the Tuscan Archipelago, is a place that defies expectation. Once a mining centre, it was repurposed in the 1950s as […]
It’s never too early to start planning next year’s holiday to Italy – so from Amalfi and the islands to Lake Garda and Liguria, let Italian holiday specialists Citalia inspire you… With nights drawing in and leaves starting to turn, we think it’s the perfect time to start dreaming of beach-front trattorias, al fresco espressos and daily […]
From shipwrecked sailors in Norway to the tables of Vicenza, Julie Carbonara tells the extraordinary tale of baccalà all vicentina. My mother was a good, plain home cook but fish was not her strong point, which is why Fridays were not my favourite days. You see, in the deeply religious, Catholic Italy of my youth, you were […]
Alan Reed and his wife Susan run painting holidays in Italy. This is a beautiful and unique way to explore everything that the country has to offer. Here he tells us all about his journey. It was my wife Susan who first introduced me to Italy. She had lived in Venice for five years and […]
Dawn from Appassionata talks about the moment they began viewing properties that would lead them to fulfilling their dream…. Our weekend in Florence was over in a flash and we reluctantly flew back to London Stansted airport. Low grey cloud and drizzle welcomed us with open arms. We drove home through the gloom and heavy […]
We talk to David Bickerstaff, filmmaker for Exhibition on Screen about the genius of Michelangelo and the challenges of telling his life story on film. The mission of Exhibition on Screen is to bring exhibition-based art to our cinema screens, working with notable galleries and museums like the National Gallery, the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh […]
Joe Gartman pays a visit to the home of the Brownings and reminds us of their path to love and fame… The courtship of Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning may be the most thoroughly documented in history, because it was conducted almost entirely by letter. And Robert was certainly a very impetuous wooer; in his very […]
A wealth of glorious sights, sounds and splendidly diverse landscapes awaits any traveller who ventures to Le Marche to explore its many treasures Le Marche is as steeped in history as any other region of Italy, but with the inhabitants enjoying a relaxed attitude and way of life, the region’s tourist trail is less stressful […]
On the trail of Lionardo Buonarroti, and the family palace he renovated in Florence. Lionardo, I have received thy letter and with it the three shirts. I am very much surprised that ye should have sent them … they are so coarse that there is not a farm labourer here who would not be ashamed […]
Emylia Hall is the author of The Thousand Lights Hotel, with the island of Elba as its dramatic backdrop. We talked to her about inspiration and Italian food… Tell us a little about yourself I grew up in the wilds of Devon. After university I lived in London for five years, working in an advertising […]