Category Archives: Italy

A Pirates’ Den in an Italian Village

Posted on April 2, 2019 by Myra

Having been away from Italy for the whole of winter, it was a pleasure to return to familiar haunts. We swept up the accumulated drifts of dead insects and cobwebs, noting with relief that  the flat had survived another winter, … Continue reading →

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Lunch with Venetian Nobility

Posted on December 17, 2018 by Myra

If you were to drive through the tiny village of Vanzo and blinked, you would miss one of the most beautiful villas in the Veneto. It is the home of Count and Countess Giustiniani who are descended from a 17th … Continue reading →

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Torrential Storm stops Padova Shakespeare Festival

Posted on July 25, 2018 by Myra

We’d learned our lines (from The Merry Wives of Windsor) and Falstaff had bought a very bushy beard from a joke shop. Just as two years ago we were performing an excerpt from Shakespeare in his own language amongst lots … Continue reading →

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Able was I ere I saw Elba!

Posted on June 29, 2018 by Myra

I remembered this palindrome from my school days as we caught the ferry from Piombino to Portoferraio.  It had been a long rail journey, not made any easier by the ticket inspector admonishing us for having a ticket for Piombino … Continue reading →

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Italy through the eyes of a 10 year old.

Posted on June 9, 2018 by Myra

I’ve just spent the week of half term with my lovely grand daughter Matilda (whom my Italian friends all called La Bella Ragazza.) It was a week of non stop activities, from running ahead of me in the maze so … Continue reading →

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A Magical evening at La Fenice in Venice

Posted on February 23, 2018 by Myra

Venice is at its best in winter, once the carnival is over, with mists and empty alleyways. The highlight of my recent few days there was an evening at the aptly named La Fenice (Phoenix) theatre, rebuilt after it burnt … Continue reading →

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The Olive Harvest in Italy

Posted on November 7, 2017 by Myra

I’ve learnt a new Italian word :frantoio. It means not only the millstones used to crush the olives, but the place where they make olive oil. In the picturesque village of Valnogaredo in the Euganean Hills there’s a 17th century … Continue reading →

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Tourists who don’t understand Venice

Posted on October 10, 2017 by Myra

People never fail to amaze me. A couple of months ago I agreed to show some people I’d never met before around Venice, as it would be their first visit. They were very nice, pleasant company, and well educated, and … Continue reading →

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All’s Well that Ends Well (Apart from Chaos at a Bavarian Market)

Posted on June 19, 2017 by Myra

My car was a write off after the autostrada accident, and I had to wait anxiously for the verdict as to who was responsible for the crash. (Knowing Italians, I suspected that the easy explanation would be that I’m foreign, … Continue reading →

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“Incidente” in Italy. Lucky to be Alive.

Posted on May 2, 2017 by Myra

Our Grand Tour across Europe was later this year because of finding a care home for my mother, so we eventually arrived at the end of April. We expected the weather to be glorious, but it was the worst we … Continue reading →

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