Tag Archives: Italy

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Naples in 10

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A look back (first published 2 December 2014): an attempt to catch in a handful some of the history that has shaped Naples, Italy – a city whose music and tailoring still fashion many of us … often without us even knowing.

thephraser's avatarThe Phraser

Pulcinella on the lungomare in Naples Pulcinella on the Lungomare in Naples

Punch-drunk but still standing Naples has borne the attentions and abuses of history with steely grace.  Today she is like the coffee she serves – undiluted and unapologetic.

Here’s an attempt at a ten point profile of the city.

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We thought it would be obvious …

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A look back (first published 25 November 2014): I think this piece should have gone under the heading “In Search of Vesuvius” because that is how it begins.

thephraser's avatarThe Phraser

Vesuvius from the Castell dell-Ovo Vesuvius from the Castell dell’Ovo

We should have known better – nothing is obvious about Vesuvius.

The volcano has sat across the bay from us all summer – big, blue and balmy.  It reclines like some artist’s prop, a balance to the curve of sea and islands, a backdrop for the scuttle of life on its slopes and down to the shore.

It looks benign, the perfect place for an afternoon stroll, perhaps even a villa or two.

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The hands in every glove

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A look back (first published 18 November 2014)

thephraser's avatarThe Phraser

Father and son - the fourth and fifth generations of the Squillace family Father and son – the third and fourth generations of the Squillace family of Omega srl (with the founders in the background)

Italy equals leather in the same way that England equals gardens.  In Rome and Florence well-ordered workshops are easy to find on the main tourist streets – in Naples, amongst the best in business especially for gloves, there is no sign.

Naples never hands anything to you.

The maps app took us to the exact address and … nothing.  No shop window, no big sign, no smell of leather, no sounds of tapping and stitching, no gloves.  We were up in the top end of the city and Omega srl had vanished.

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