Blog

What is it about Isola Bella?
By Michael
Jul 8, 2019
There’s no doubt that Isola Bella, on Lake Maggiore, is totally and utterly over the top.  What’s much harder to work out is how it gets away with this.  It charms you into s
Warning: Big Views Get Boring
By Michael
Sep 26, 2016
I’m sitting up in bed, re-dawn, french doors open to the following view.  Its morning number four and I’m yet to get bored with it. That’s Vesuvius in the background, the cu
Of timelessness and moment
By Michael
Sep 3, 2014
One of the unsung aspects of gardens is their super-ability to have one foot in timelessness and the other in the current moment. In a French garden, for instance, or an English ga

Warning: Big Views Get Boring
By Michael
Sep 26, 2016

I’m sitting up in bed, re-dawn, french doors open to the following view.  Its morning number four and I’m yet to get bored with it. That’s Vesuvius in the background, the currently snoring pres ...

Of timelessness and moment
By Michael
Sep 3, 2014

One of the unsung aspects of gardens is their super-ability to have one foot in timelessness and the other in the current moment. In a French garden, for instance, or an English garden, it’s possibl ...

The Side-benefits of Jet-lag
By Michael
Aug 26, 2014

Seems like all you have to do to see the outrageously wonderful Michelangelo-designed square on Capitoline Hill in Rome entirely on your own is to get there at 5:30 am. Its intimacy and grandeur in pe ...

Buongiorno
By Michael
Aug 22, 2014

Well, I’m off to Italy for a few weeks.  Leaving this afternoon.  In about 30 hours from now, I expect I’ll be sauntering through the Piazza Navona with my group, gelato in hand. Can’t wait. W ...

Me? Overthinking?
By Michael
Oct 7, 2012

OK, I’m seriously overthinking this.  I’ve been sitting here for an hour or so on a balcony overlooking an ancient sidestreet in Verona, trying to find an engaging angle on a particular garden th ...