Italian contrasts

On a Winter day in an Italian town, you can easily look up and see a sight like this

Bright buildings set against a cobalt blue sky. These stark contrasts seem ever present in Italy.

The Summers are boiling hot, the towns are deserted. In the blinding heat, electricity supplies strain under the weight of the air-conditioners. The Winters can be bitterly cold, but still sunny and bright. It used to be a common sight to see many chic women wearing fur coats and sunglasses. Now that there is more awareness of animal  rights, there seem to be less, and let's face it, a warm place to go to is never far away.

Italy seems to have everything. Cities containing  eighty per cent of the world's art treasures. Spectacular  mountains full of dynamic ski resorts, beaches as fine as any in the Caribbean with soft, white sand and safe shallow water. Beautiful lakes offering scuba diving equal to the Red Sea, wind-surfing, para gliding, mountain climbing. Rivers and streams, soft, rolling hills dotted with olive groves and lines of cypress trees.

That may sound like a travel brochure, and I could go on and on, but I can't think of another country where in such a relatively small area there is such a vast amount of natural beauty.

When we were on our way back from our Arabba adventure, we stopped to eat Canerdeli in a German- speaking part of Italy. I thought about how varied Italy is, what different worlds lie to the north and south. Between Austria and Africa, lies Italy.

At the top canerdeli, at the bottom, cannoli alla Siciliana, that would be a great meal.

This card arrived from my cousin. On the back she wrote that it shows all the places we love. Looking at Britain and Italy on this card, if you took away the Channel, they look united by a diagonal line.

It might seem completely unrelated, but this map has reminded me of a book of rhyming history that I've got, and always makes me smile.

This is how it starts-

Celts and Saxons 55Bc-AD 927

To start this Rhyming History,

I've chosen 55BC.

The Romans, who had got their hands

On all the European lands,

Could see this last annoying bit,

And thought they had to conquer it.

Their famous Caesar, Julius,

Did not know what to make of us -

He couldn't work out who was who,

Since everyone was painted blue,

He took some souvenirs away,

Went home, and said, 'E tu,Brute?'

From A Rhyming History of Britain, by James Muirden