Italy

Milan cathedral

Seven days in the Italian Lakes, Four Days in Milan and Four Books: Part Two

We’d rented an apartment in Milan, planning to give our stomachs a rest after a week of delicious but rich food although the excellent bakery just a few metres from our front door put paid to that. Unsurprisingly, the weather in Milan was very different from the Lakes, justifying my-pack-for-every-temperature tendency. We headed off to […]

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View of Lake Maggiore from Villa Margherita

Seven days in the Italian Lakes, Four Days in Milan and Four Books: Part One

This is a first for me: a two-part what-I-did-on-my holidays piece. Our city and lakeside stays were so different I couldn’t fit them comfortably into one post, at least, that’s my excuse We’d booked a holiday in Italy just a few weeks before Covid knocked the world for six in February 2020, finally making it

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Cover image

The Road to Urbino by Roma Tearne: Last night I dreamt…

I’m a sucker for biographical notes and always disappointed when they merely list previous books with a tight little sentence about where the author lives if you’re lucky. Partly nosiness on my part I’ll admit but often a little knowledge of an author’s life illuminates their writing. Reading one of Roma Tearne’s novels without knowing

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