Villa Lante is one of the best-known Italian gardens, famed for its iconic ‘water-chain’ cascade, and the identical small stylish Palladian palazzine that sit to either side of the main axis of the garden. Of all the gardens around Rome … Continue reading
We English are so polite. Like most of my compatriots, if I visit a garden that I don’t like, I don’t write about it; but all that is about to change, no more Mr Nice Guy. I have resolved to … Continue reading
I knew little about this enigmatic garden before I went there, and without doubt, it is one of the most astonishing places I have ever seen. Being somewhat intellectually lazy, the temptation for me is not to try to understand … Continue reading
Rising sea levels, and the changing patterns of our more unpredictable weather are already presenting us with a dilemma – to what extent do we try to fight nature, such as holding back incoming surge tides at The Thames Barrier … Continue reading
In Jacque Tati’s hilarious film ‘Playtime’, Monsieur Hulot, the buffoon hero parodies the house as a machine for living. The owners of a gadget-ridden house are baffled by its technology, which M. Hulot manages to cause to malfunction, all to … Continue reading
I had always wanted to see the gardens of Lake Como and it came as a surprise, on a weekend trip to Milan, to find that I was only 35 minutes from Como by train. This proved to be an … Continue reading