Monday 26 January The next morning we left with Giacomo, the sales manager, as the sun was rising, to drive into Torino. Roadworks made it slow-going, and we were dropped at the OGR at 09.30, while Giacomo searched for parking. The day began with coffee, a brief gathering of some members of the Circle of … Continue reading Piemonte 36 : Grandi Langhe and Alba : 26 – 31 January 2026
Piemonte 35: Gattinara and Torino: 19 – 26 January 2026
Monday 19 January We had an early start from Andover, catching the 07.35 to reach Stansted (via Waterloo and Bank to Liverpool St for the Stansted Express) arriving at 10.10 in plenty of time for the Ryanair 12.40 to Turin, which boarded promptly and left only 15 minutes late. We arrived in daylight at 16.00 European … Continue reading Piemonte 35: Gattinara and Torino: 19 – 26 January 2026
Christmas 2025 : Radical Harmony at the National Gallery
Monday 22 December 2025 Part of my Christmas present to David was lunch at Locatelli’s new restaurant, ensconced in the Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery. Having booked some weeks ago, we combined this with a visit to the National Gallery’s Radical Harmony exhibition of Neo-Impressionist art (and a quick tour of Wright of Derby … Continue reading Christmas 2025 : Radical Harmony at the National Gallery
Piemonte 34 : Caluso : 16 – 19 November 2025
Sunday 16 November We left Hic e Nunc around 17.00 and during a rainy and dark journey of around an hour, Elisabetta kept up the conversation as she used her phone for satnav, inviting feedback and reflecting on the events. When we arrived at Hotel Erbaluce in Caluso, we were greeted by Gennaro, using his … Continue reading Piemonte 34 : Caluso : 16 – 19 November 2025
Piemonte 33: Monferrato Canavese : 14 – 16 November 2025
Friday 14th November Having already tracked down exit 6 of Malpensa airport’s terminal 1, we left the restaurant at 19.20 to position ourselves there and soon found Doris Lau Parry, who describes herself as a global nomad, lives in Chiswick and writes a weekly column for the Hong Kong Times. Melania Battiston arrived soon … Continue reading Piemonte 33: Monferrato Canavese : 14 – 16 November 2025
Piemonte 32 : Gattinara 11 -14 November 2025
Tuesday 11 November We collected the hire car from Budget, half a mile from our hotel, not especially pleased to have been upgraded to a larger car; in our experience, smaller suits our needs better. In this case, the hybrid MG proved very reluctant to start, and we lost half an hour faffing. Eventually the … Continue reading Piemonte 32 : Gattinara 11 -14 November 2025
Piemonte 31 : Stresa for Taste Alto Piemonte : 7 – 11 November 2025
Friday 7 November 2025 Today we set off for a fortnight’s research for David’s new writing project, The Wines of Northern Piemonte: Annual Report Spring 2026 sponsored in part by Nebbia e Luce. It begins at Taste Alto Piemonte, an annual event this year held in Stresa on Lago Maggiore, 80 km north of Milan. … Continue reading Piemonte 31 : Stresa for Taste Alto Piemonte : 7 – 11 November 2025
Two days in Siena – and three Italian Cathedrals: 5 – 7 September 2025
Friday 5 September After we had tasted and talked with Guiseppe Gorelli at his winery close by Montalcino, we drove through the Friday late afternoon traffic to a car hire in the industrial estate in the south of Siena. We arrived at 17.53, just in time to hand back the car to two efficient and … Continue reading Two days in Siena – and three Italian Cathedrals: 5 – 7 September 2025
Radda and Montalcino: 1 – 5 September 2025
On Monday afternoon we rescued our big ugly jeep from the tiny carpark outside the gates of Volterra, and drove to Radda to stay in the Palazzo San Niccolò, one of the four star hotels on the tiny via Roma. I had remembered the parking issues from an earlier trip; like so many medieval settlements … Continue reading Radda and Montalcino: 1 – 5 September 2025
A weekend in Volterra : 29 – 31 August 2025
Friday 29 August - my birthday We travelled to Gatwick on the 09.38, arriving in plenty of time for a 14.20 flight - which annoyingly was delayed by an hour. Nonetheless we reached Pisa car hire (Locauto) around 18.30 and headed for Volterra, in a clumsy Jeep, bigger than we would like, and parked in … Continue reading A weekend in Volterra : 29 – 31 August 2025
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