Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome

Agnieszka Matyjaszek, Sharston “My first trip to Rome was only a week ago. I loved everything about it. The days were short but I enjoy walking around beautiful cites in the dark too. Walking in the dark can help you see things you may miss in the daytime. Santa Maria Maggiore is beautiful at any […]

Salt Flats of Sicily

They have been farming the salt flats of Sicily since long before the Romans arrived on the island and they still are – the tourist industry here, you see, is not the most buoyant in Italy… Few tourists venture to the far west of Sicily. Even those travellers intrepid enough to leave the north coast […]

The Madonna della Bruna

The Madonna della Bruna is the protector of Matera in Basilicata. Her feast day is the 2nd of July, when she is brought from the Church of San Francesco and presented to the people… In northern climes, we tend to reserve our illuminations and fireworks for the winter months, when we are glad for the light […]

Lizards in Lecce

Mrs Rona Hayward, Whitchurch “In June this year my husband were in the shade of an old olive tree by the amphitheatre in Lecce when these two little chaps came out to enjoy the sun. Happy days!”