From the category archives:
The last three Summers have seen us in Umbria, spending the last week of the holiday in Spoleto. The most under-rated of the central Italian towns (save perhaps Ascoli Piceno), Spoleto has a marvellous duomo dating from the XII century, with painting by Fra Lippo Lippi amongst others, and a larger historical centre than [...]
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Islamic Spain was the subject of this excellent BBC programme from Andrew Graham-Dixon. These are my rough, on the fly, notes from the TV. Andrew Graham Dixon on the Art of Spain, 31 January 2008 Starts with Al-Andalus — often forgotten (not by me) that Moors ruled Spain for 700 years. Shot of Jebel Tarik, approached from [...]
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This story combines name-dropping, a certain degree of disgustingness and a uniquely Philippine quality. Some years ago, probably in about 1992 or 1993, we had gone to visit my father-in-law, Fred Elizalde, who lives in Manila. Many of us went out one evening to a rather posh restaurant, I forget which, though I do recall [...]
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I’m sure this comes from somewhere, but my friend, Jon, just sent it to me. It is too horribly real for words. You leave clubs before the end to “beat the rush”. You get more excited about having a roast on a Sunday than going clubbing. You stop dreaming of becoming a professional footballer and start dreaming [...]
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The wintry haw is burning out of season, crab of the thorn, a small light for small people, wanting no more from them but that they keep the wick of self-respect from dying out, not having to blind them with illumination. But sometimes when your breath plumes in the frost it takes the roaming shape of Diogenes with his lantern, seeking one [...]
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“…when we compare the present life of man on earth with that time of which we have no knowledge, it seems to me like the swift flight of a single sparrow through the banqueting-hall where you are sitting at dinner on a winter’s day with your thanes and counsellors. Inside, there is a comforting fire [...]
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The exhibition of the photos of Jacques Henri Lartigue, at the Haywood Gallery on the South Bank, will close next week on 5 September. If you have not been there already, you really should try and catch it. There is probably a feeling that Lartigue is not a ‘proper’ photographer. He came from a [...]
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Early morning on the Mediterranean: bright air resinous with Aleppo pine, water spraying over the gleaming tarmac of the Route Nationale and darkly reflecting the spring-summer green of the planes; swifts wheeling round the oleander, waiters unpiling the wicker chairs and scrubbing the cafe tables; armfuls of carnation on the flower-stall, pyramids of lemon and [...]
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What a hilariously ludicrous scene last night ! Caterina and I met at the Odeon in Tottenham Court Road to go and see Van Helsing. Cat was a little late and tottered round the corner wearing a new pair of Manolos which I could instantly tell were killing her. We saw the film (which [...]
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I came across this a couple of years ago. A Western traveller ordering breakfast in a hotel somewhere in the mystic Orient (ahem). It’s still funny, though read it out loud for best effect.Room Service (RS): “Morny. Ruin sorbees” Guest (G): “Sorry, I thought I dialled room-service” RS: “Rye..Ruin sorbees..morny! Djewish to odor [...]
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