For the non-skiers at Lago Laceno near Avellino in Italy
I belong to a family of enthusiastic, occasional skiers who like nothing better than to plunge down cold, white mountains at speed. The problem is that I don’t share this joy.
In the Apennine Mountains in the south of Italy I discovered nobody seemed to mind. There were deckchairs, sunshine, and families who just wanted to be out and about – not up-there.
The Royal Palace at Caserta
Big is a little word that can’t quite fit all of this palace in. Size is everywhere but still the giant proved hard to find by car.
We knew we’d reached Caserta but even though we were within metres of the palace we couldn’t see it. The area was a strange, any-man’s-land of straight roads and plain buildings.
Looking over the top of the Villa Arianna in Stabiae towards Vesuvius
We stand in a mid-day drowse, like the citizens of ancient Rome must have stood – the sun is warm; the sea glistens; and there is the distant rise and fall of bells. Behind us roll green hills and to our front, the double-backed outline of Vesuvius steals the horizon.
So peaceful … yet it never has been, and still is not. There remains a threat below the surface.
The Phraser 