Tag Archives: Italy

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The joy, and guilt, of a drive along the Amalfi Coast in Italy

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I wrote this post at the end of February last year. Since then we’ve seen another summer on the lovely Amalfi Coast … but we’ve also sat in its traffic jams, and met up with friends, weak with frazzled nerves, after they’ve completed their own summer drives along this famous coast. My advice is to travel by sea .. I don’t think donkeys are available yet 🙂

thephraser's avatarThe Phraser

View from above Positano on the Amalfi Coast, Italy View from above Positano on the Amalfi Coast, Italy

Some places fill the mind with light, draw us like moths towards their flame … and as we arrive in our thousands the chaos from our wingbeats pushes outwards.

The Amalfi Coast, rippled turquoise, with emerald light and wilderness, is one such flame; and I feel like a vandal every time I visit by car.

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In search of a book in Naples, Italy

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A look back: this piece was first published on 12 February 2016. I can still feel the sunshine of that walk, and the satisfaction of being able to ask for help in simple Italian. The embarrassing part is that, a year on, the book I took such trouble to hunt down is still not finished … plus I’ve discovered my weary dictionary isn’t big enough for Enzo Striano.

thephraser's avatarThe Phraser

Books and Naples, Italy are old friends Books and Napoli are old friends

Step in amongst the books in this ancient city and it’s hard to avoid the big names on almost every corner. My search for just one novel was busy enough.

Start on the Lungomare and there’s the castle known, thanks to Virgil, as the Castel dell’Ovo (Castle of the Egg).

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Naples, Italy: the loss of Pino Daniele

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This piece is an updated version of an article first published last year to mark the anniversary of the death of the singer Pino Daniele who was born and raised in Naples, Italy. Tomorrow will be the second anniversary of his death … I don’t think Naples will ever forget him.

thephraser's avatarThe Phraser

Pino Daniele - singer, adored by Naples, died suddenly January 2015 Pino Daniele

Waves of emotion can hit you from any distance – one washed right over me this time two years ago. I was thousands of miles away from the event that caused the outpouring of emotion … but I knew that it mattered.

The ‘event’ was the sudden death of the singer Pino Daniele on January 4th 2015, and the city whose heart split open was Napoli. Facebook wept with tributes. I could feel the pain from wherever I sat.

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