Posts written about Italy, particularly Naples, and other posts written whilst in Italy.
Bridges over the Arno River, Florence – September 2020
I did not think this trip would happen.
A weekend in Italy? A wedding in a country brought to its knees in agony by Covid-19 only months earlier? Surely not.
At the entrance to the exhibition of Don McCullin’s photographs at Tate Britain, London
Black and white and not very big, each frame – and there are rooms of them – shows what it felt like to be there. Not easy most of the time, but so compelling.
The exhibition of photographs taken by Don McCullin over the last sixty years is on at the Tate Britain in London until 6 May 2019. I went last week…so did plenty of others.
Piazza della Consolata in Turin, Italy
Here are some final impressions of my excellent, food-themed days in Turin. The trip, arranged by locals, was a real treat.
First I want to take you to Piazza della Consolata.
The front entrance to Porta Nuova train station in Turin, Italy
The first day of Turin Epicurian Capital 2018
This is it! Day one of why I am here, and I am nervous.
A taxi returns me to Porta Nuova train station, neighbour to the hotel that is to be my base for Turin Epicurian Capital 2018.
View of the Alps shortly before landing in Turin, Italy
The gleam of snow on dark peaks fills the window for long minutes, then disappears beneath a carpet of greens.
As the aeroplane turns on its wingtip, grids of brown appear, stacked close to the lush curves of the Po River.
We land gently.
“Ladies and Gentlemen – welcome to Turin!”
Return to Naples – My Italian Bar Mitzvah and Other Discoveries by Robert Zweig PhD
I loved this book and its collection of carefully told memories. If you know Naples, or are curious about the city, this is an easy, fascinating read – a surprisingly gentle ride around a family and a city scarred by war.
Naples, Italy
This film, a collage of memory and story, nightmare and fact, holds high the war-shattered image of Naples. It takes us amongst the ruins to show us desperate lives caught up in battle and destruction.
We are not asked to pity or excuse … only to understand, and to witness the consequences of a year of war in a city targeted for its strategic importance.
