The vintage before...
21 May 2013

Milan | Dom Pérignon

The Italian première of the latest Dom Pérignon vintage would hardly be a humble affair. In fact, it's to be a week-long event in an exclusive ad hoc installation in the magnificent courtyard of 15th-century Palazzo Carmagnola in central Milan. Check ... More

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Zash lounge bar in the old winery 18 May 2013

Riposto | Zash…

For one of the most dashing country hotels south of Rome, push on all the way down to eastern Sicily and the lower slopes of Mount Etna, where you'll find Zash, tucked away among orange and lemon groves just south of the coastal ... More

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Parasols at the Festival
15 May 2013

Rome | Eternal Greenery

Coming very soon, a grand celebration of greenery - of the garden and landscape variety - in Rome. And not in any old exhibition area or park but magnificently atop Renzo Piano's Auditorium Parco della Musica, in the hanging garden designed by ... More

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DFD in Pisa
11 May 2013

All Over Italy | Digital Food Days

And what on earth does that mean? Well, it's the title given to a nationwide spree of events where the digital universe and planet science meet around a table with the excuse of a culinary binge! Fruit of an alliance between Digital ... More

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Silver candelabra abound 9 May 2013

Florence | The Works Canteen

An extraordinary restaurant opened in the Florentine suburbs a few months ago. It's a case of split personality, in which the modest canteen hall of a working silverware factory is transmogrified as the sun sets to become the city's coolest eatery, ... More

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The north-western prospect 6 May 2013

Campomarino | Stonework

From the crumbling ruins of a 17th century watchtower, a little gem of architectural reclamation. Apulian architects Gloria Valente and Vittorio Carofiglio  just won a first prize at the Apulia Marble Awards 2013 for the project which lent new life to one of the region's network ... More

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Breakfast and living room at Civico 22 3 May 2013

Pordenone | No. 22

No. 22 Via San Quirino, in Pordenone, that is. An address to note if you're looking for something a little different in the way of hospitality up there in the North East. A peculiarly attractive modernistic construction with an overhanging terrace on ... More

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At Samsung's What a Wonderful World
30 April 2013

Milan | Location Hopping

Or What Didn't We Get Up To During Design Week 2013. Once upon a time, Design Week in Milan was synonymous with the International Furnishings Fair, aka I Saloni. That's still the official, trade face of it, of course, up at the Exhibition ... More

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A Gianni Versace outfit circa 1991
27 April 2013

Naples | Gianni Versace Tribute

Gianni Versace is the undisputed if absent protagonist of an exhibition at Naples' Palazzo Mondragone. Eclectic inspirations, boundless imagination, vivid colour, fearless patterns, and the metal bits - they're all there in around 200 items designed by one of the planet's ... More

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Rustic charm at Li Licci 24 April 2013

Calangianus | Li Licci

It's not often we get news from Sardinia, still less the chance to get over there and scout for ourselves. But Li Licci sounds like heaven for outdoorsy travellers and gourmets. In a valley on the uplands of central Gallura in the ... More

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Lingering over art
21 April 2013

Florence | Slow Art Day

No barrelling past the Botticellis or scurrying through the sculpture hall on April 27Slow Art Day, celebrated worldwide with events inviting if not actually obliging us to slacken the pace and take a good long look at some artwork, is upon ... More

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