by VT | Mar 25, 2020 | history, Italy
Historians expound many themes and often disagree, but none can deny that a plague devastated Christendom in the first half of the 1300s. It was just when literature in the language of the people – – the ‘vulgar tongue’ emerged at the same time as the new... by VT | Aug 6, 2019 | art, General interest, Italy
Behind the ruin, which is now the house where I am writing this, were the usual weeds and a few bushes. It was a hot August day, and most were wilting, but on one side I noticed a light purple flower with yellow stamens. Ah, I thought, this is an attractive weed, and... by VT | May 2, 2019 | art, history, Italy
500 years ago Leonardo died in France. In 1452 he was born to a peasant girl in the village of Vinci not far from Florence. His father, a Florentine lawyer, had no legitimate male heir, so decided to adopt him. He probably always felt he was an outsider, so it would... by VT | Apr 25, 2019 | Italy
My early enchantment with Tuscany must have been influenced by EM Forster’s ‘A Room with a View’ which took place at this time of year. The month of May caught the last of the nightingales and the very first fireflies that dance over the meadows... by Valerie | Mar 20, 2019 | art, General interest, history, Italy, museums, people, travel
What are the guardians of order thinking as they peruse the open spaces before them and the people gathering or passing by? There they are outside Buckingham Palace in their red jackets and bearskin headgear endlessly perused by the public day in, day out. I admire...
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