Welcome and Benvenuti to all my lovely followers around the world,
O Dio! My worst nightmare has arrived in the shape of a bright orange plastic fence, which is being erected around the barn by builders who are about to convert it! The fence is just about the worst eyesore you could imagine in these sweet hills, dolce colline. But hey ho, I must get my head down and write to you.
I was interested to read the other day that Italy has been voted the safest country in the world to live in! Well, I am pleased to hear this and may it last. I have no idea who were canvassed to come up with this surprising result; the Mafia has obviously been a little quiet of late!
Anyway, to move on, in the same paper was this foto of some gorgeous jewelry and a handbag. Sodini If the rest of the world is falling apart, we can always concentrate on beautiful hand crafted Italian bags, shoes, frocks and jewelry. This does not mean that I and many others here in Tuscany are ignoring the things happening worldwide, but for peace of mind it’s important to find time to take pleasure from beautiful things and people we love.
And on the subject of love, apart from food, the Italians adore football, calcio. After Italy’s sad failure in the Rugby Six Nations, their national football team is doing well in the European Cup! Bravo to them. Calcio is what the Italians breath; the sports pages in the caffè bar are the most sought after for football results.
As regards Italian newspapers, I particularly like La Repubblica. Yes, OK, it is a little to the right and there is still a strong communist following here, but it features a lot of the things I am interested in. Saturday is for listings of all the latest published books, in Italian of course. Last weekend there was a superb article about children and books and today one about encouraging board games. A friend in Fiano suggested that I get my books translated to Italian and he would arrange for a grand book signing event in the village. The problem is, costing at least 3,000 euros a book, I’m not sure it will be worth it! I would need to sell around 600 copies of each book to come out even…..What do you think?
And what about the arrival of the Chinese President Xi Jinping! At least he left the Red Army behind, you know what I mean don’t you….. No, it seems that the Silk Road is the thing he is bringing and the hope that Italy will benefit from substantial investment and trade deals. I have to say that there are masses of Chinese tourists here every year, so the country already benefits. Mind you, there are also a few Chinese vineyards in the area…! PS I couldn’t help but notice his first lady Peng Liyuan has great styling, probably influenced by Italian designers.
Then I turned the page to find another brilliant piece of street art by Tvboy, which depicts the Prime Minister Conte as Pinocchio, you know the puppet whose nose kept growing every time he told a lie, and the two Deputies Di Maio & Salvini as a cat and a wolf! Don’t you just love it!
Well enough of that, time to get this blog off to you and get back to my music.
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Salute June x
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