'Everything here is just right': TOM PARKER BOWLES has lunch on the small Aeolian Island of Salina
Everything moves slowly here, a life lived in thrall to the island's ancient rhythm. This is the land of volcanoes and obsidian, of Odysseus and Aeolus, of capers, swordfish and pungent wild herbs. We order wine – crisp, white and cool, the grapes grown on the lushly fertile slopes of Mount Etna – and eat raw grouper, sliced tracing-paper thin, mixed with shavings of parmesan and slivers of red onion. It may sound a little odd (fish! cheese!), but it's a dish of gentle elegance – a joyous symphony of the sweet, soft and salty.
Tuna tartare is more robust, great chunks in various degrees of crimson, meaty but mellow, the acidity perfectly judged. There are pieces of celery and a handful of capers, all bathed in a slick of golden oil. When the raw ingredients are this fine there's little point in mucking them about. Spaghetti vongole next, the pasta tight and taut, a dash of pasta water added at the end to emulsify those juices into a sauce. A generous dusting of grated bottarga adds an extra blast of ocean depth.
Frito misto arrives hot from the fryer, the squid wearing the very lightest of batters, the butterflied anchovies clad in a breadcrumb crust. Prawns, naked and fried for mere seconds, are incandescently fresh, delivered, like everything else, by the fisherman that morning. You will not eat better fish. Then coffee, joltingly strong, and a glass of local malvasia with homemade biscotti. We linger late into the afternoon, gazing out over the sea towards Lipari. Everything here is just right, seasoned with the exquisite ennui of nothing much to do. The afternoon ferry slides in, and out once more. The rest of the island sleeps.
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BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
The mountain retreat - upholding an Italian tradition
The wheels on Josh Doig's plane had barely kissed Italian tarmac before he was whisked off to the Alps for a lung-pumping, leg-burning pre-season training camp with his new team-mates."They said to me if you sign, you can go home, pack a bag, come back," laughs the Scotsman, reflecting on his arrival at Hellas Verona in July 2022. "I was expecting to be drip fed into it."But literally I signed, then two hours [drive] straight up to the mountains, not speaking the language - it was terrifying, but after a few days I loved it."The ritiro pre-campionato - translated as pre-season retreat - is something of an Italian have long swapped hot and humid summers for fresh mountain air and picturesque surroundings in the north of the country, spending weeks preparing for the new season at high-altitude camps."You have almost six weeks off with your family and then 17 days away," adds left-back Doig, now with Sassuolo in Serie A and speaking from his fourth such retreat, this one in the quiet Alpine village of Ronzone."When you're in the mountains it's just head down and work hard. You feel dead on your feet every day but it is good because you know you are getting something out of it."It is a shock to the system but it gets you right back in the swing of things with your fitness and the football way of mind."While many clubs, particularly those in the Premier League, now opt for lucrative global tours, the 'ritiro' remains relatively unscathed heritage in Serie A."Every player has grown up with this kind of tradition," explains Genoa sporting director Marco Ottolini. "Maybe we have more mountains than other nations!"This summer, only AC Milan ventured outside Europe, playing in Hong Kong and Australia, with several clubs setting up retreats at their own training bases and 12 still making a trip to the slopes. Antonio Conte's Napoli are even doing it twice."You have better air, oxygen," says Gokhan Inler, technical director at Udinese, who have made a short hop across the border to Austria. "You are more controlled with food and sleep. It helps build the group, new players come in faster." Italian disciplinarian Fabio Capello recreated a similar retreat with England before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, grilling the squad away from friends and family in the small village of Irdning, tucked away in the Austrian Italian football journalist Daniele Verri explains, would use the remote camps to control their players' behaviour or stop them partying in pre-season."Fans wouldn't even know where their clubs would go," adds Verri. "Now you get full houses."Over time, the culture has changed - as well as open training sessions for fans, most clubs allow players' families to visit, the camps have become shorter and there are more team-building activities. Genoa's players, for example, have spent time rafting and on mountain walks."In the past it was much longer," explains Ottolini from Genoa's base at Moena, in Val di Fassa, where they spent 11 days."There were clubs that stayed in the mountains for three weeks and for me that was something that was damaging the mental health of the players. Now you have to manage the breaks, give some free time to do different activities."Training methods have evolved too, of course."When I was younger it was more mountain runs, up and downs, more physical, 1,000m runs back and forth," says former Switzerland midfielder Inler, who spent eight seasons in Serie A with Udinese and Napoli."Then slowly it changed. Some coaches, like Rafael Benitez, liked to run but on the pitch with a ball."Now on the pitch you can do everything - more people, more scientific materials, you can check more data. Before you had GPS, but basic things, now you see sprints, distance, all these things to fine-tune the body." For Patrick Vieira's Genoa, a typical day - when there are no friendlies - consists of a morning and afternoon session, around which the players can use the spa and swimming pool, or do some recovery work with the physio."Patrick has brought a lot of self-consciousness and he transmits this kind of charisma, this calmness in the right way that is good for everybody," says Ottolini."Patrick is very organised, he gives the right breaks to the players and then in that hour when there is training he wants their full concentration, their full focus."At Sassuolo's camp, it has also been daily double sessions under Italian World Cup-winning left-back Fabio Grosso."It is full on," explains Doig. "We always do running or gym in the morning and always ball work in the afternoon. The gaffer is good with that."Now it is getting more tactical. Tactics, games in the afternoon - it gives you something to look forward to after the hard session in the morning."Of course, there is still always time for golf. "There is a beautiful course, Dolomiti Golf Course, five minutes' drive away," smiles Doig. "Whenever we get an afternoon off, we're straight there for like five hours." 'It's an event' - why Napoli have two camps As well as friendlies and open training sessions, clubs lay on events for visiting fans - Genoa boss Vieira spoke in the square at nearby Alpine resort Canazei and players took part in a table football tournament."It is traditional for the supporters," adds Ottolini. "They like to come with families to watch games and training, to stay a bit closer to the team compared to what they can do during the season."So popular are the retreats among Napoli fans, they have put on two this summer."In the 1980s, all Italian teams went to the mountains - fresh air, to build team spirit. It was really just between team-mates," says Naples-based journalist Vincenzo Credendino."Now the retreat of Napoli is an event. They train during the day and then in the night there is always an event."One night cinema, another night the presentation of the team, another there is Conte with his staff answering questions from people, another with four players, a disco night - it's a holiday village, really!" But there is also an economic incentive for side spent 11 days in Dimaro Folgarida, in Trentino's Val di Sole, before heading for two weeks in Castel di Sangro, in the Apennine Mountains in Abruzzo."For the regions, it is good to have Napoli because Napoli bring a lot of fans who go to hotels, restaurants, they kayak, mountain bike," explains Credendino."It's a lot of money - it's like a real business for the regions for Trentino and Abruzzo. They pay Napoli to come but they earn much more."Verri adds: "For a mountain resort looking for visibility, it can mean a lot to host a top club's pre-season training camp. It attracts publicity and above all fans, lots of fans."That is why it can be worth attracting teams for the retreat with sponsorships, free accommodation and various benefits."It begs the question - would clubs consider ditching the traditional retreats for more lucrative overseas options in future?"For the player it is hard," says Inler of that option. "After a long season, you go to a tour and it is a big fatigue, especially mentally. Smaller clubs, you are here in Europe, then it is less fatigue."If you are higher, if you are a better player, everybody wants something from you, the club needs to promote you, needs to promote the club - the higher you go the more you have to do."
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Tell us: share your experiences of traveling with friends
Once, a stranger at a party imparted an invaluable piece of advice to me: 'There are friends you can travel with and friends you can't – and you have to know the difference.' I have since learned how true this is. I know of friendships that almost collapsed because one person wanted to fill each day with activities while the other preferred a more relaxed approach. I spent a blissful week crisscrossing Italy with a friend whose travel preferences exactly overlapped with mine, but argued with another who wanted to go clubbing at 2am when I desperately wanted to go to bed. In short, traveling with friends is high-risk, high-reward. We want to hear your tales of traveling with pals: the good, the bad, the ugly, the bachelor parties. You can tell us your best and worst memories of traveling with friends by filling in the form below. Please include as much detail as possible. Please include as much detail as possible. Please include as much detail as possible. Please include as much detail as possible. Please note, the maximum file size is 5.7 MB. Your contact details are helpful so we can contact you for more information. They will only be seen by the Guardian. Your contact details are helpful so we can contact you for more information. They will only be seen by the Guardian. If you include other people's names please ask them first.
Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Telegraph
The 10 most annoying things British tourists do on holiday
No nudity, no beers on the street, and please keep the noise down: these are just some of the new laws greeting British visitors to Portofino this summer. Fed up with tourists' rowdy antics, the Italian town has pledged to impose fines of up to €500 (£435) on those who don't behave – and it's not alone. In July, the Spanish city of Malaga announced its own rules, pleading visitors to 'be respectful of heritage', 'be kind to workers', and not 'attract attention' in public. It's all common sense, surely? Not according to those who actually live in Europe's tourism hotspots. We asked them to name tourists ' bad, mad and disgusting behaviours, and the list is lengthy – with many saying that British visitors are the worst offenders. From tiny bugbears to 'culture-killing' actions, read on to discover the capers that earn us our rock-bottom reputation. Getting naked – and randy 'In winter, Malia is a sleepy little town, but as soon as the British arrive, the place is an unholy mess, with girls in thongs strutting down the sidewalk, guys with bare torsos and people vomiting – or even having sex – outside the bars,' says travel writer Heidi Fuller-Love, who has lived in Crete for 15 years. Malia is notorious for its popularity with young British holidaymakers, as immortalised in cringe-tastic comedy The Inbetweeners Movie. '[I wish Britons] understood how offensive this behaviour is to Greeks for whom nudity is a no-no, and whose society is based on the respect of others.' Being the worst type of drunk British tourists' notorious drinking habits are spilling out of the resorts and into the cities, says Paris resident Sara. 'Inebriated young Britons become boisterous, vulgar and often bother women in a really unpleasant way. In Paris, they gravitate to areas like Montmartre, Pigalle or the Latin Quarter, thus annoying not just the locals but also fellow visitors.' There is a small mercy, says Sara: 'because they are in central Paris, at least they won't drink and drive'. Hogging the golf course Not only are Britons usually terrible golfers, but we monopolise the course unashamedly, says Martin Rosenberg, founder of travel booking site and a resident of Belek in Antalya, Turkey, which has several championship courses. 'They act as if they've bought the entire golf course for their week, and their pace of play is so slow. If they're in a group of two or three, they couldn't possibly be paired up with anyone else to make a four-ball – but there's no way they're paying extra to block off the spare places. After 20 years I have less and less to do with Brits on holiday as I find them rude, arrogant and selfish.' Rushing the sights – and forgetting the rest Stop trying to squeeze Venice into just one day, says Italy travel writer Demi Anter – it's destroying the city. 'The magic of Venice is not to be found when rushing through the 'sights' as a daytripper,' she insists. 'Overtourism is killing the city's culture: in 2009 activists staged a funeral for Venice, marking the drop in the island's population from 170,000 in the fifties to under 60,000 that year. It's now around 50,000. Don't avoid visiting, but take a week or more, and spend money locally.' Complaining it's 'not like home' 'You'd never hear a French, Dutch or German tourist say 'Where's the fish and chip shop?', or 'Where can a man get a decent pint around here?' – but these are the most common things a Brit will comment on in Spain,' says TK Smith, a Briton who has lived in the country for more than 20 years. 'That's why places like Fuengirola and Benalmadena look more like Clacton-on-Sea than the Costa del Sol. It appears the most horrifying thing to a British tourist is that a destination has its own history, culture, food and personality.' Embarrassing ourselves on 'beer bikes' Popular with stag and hen groups, 'beer bikes' are basically city tours on a giant pedal-powered vehicle, with an open bar at its heart. 'They clog up Lisbon's cycle paths and come along one after another,' says Christopher Fitch, author of Wild Cities, who has lived in Lisbon for five years. 'It should be the city's responsibility to ban them as they did in Amsterdam. Either way, it's always British accents that I hear as I'm squeezing my bike past…' Ignoring the local language 'It might sound like a small thing, but in Versailles we have a problem with British tourists disrespecting the local bakery shops,' says resident Jean Cooper. 'They barge in demanding the locals speak English, and it's so frustrating for us because going to the bakery is a big part of our daily lives. A word or two in French can make the interaction a lot better! I just wish they were more respectful.' Staying in rental apartments British travellers commonly eschew hotels for rental properties, says Barcelona journalist Pablo Castaño, but doing so only exacerbates the city's infamous overtourism woes. 'Many rental apartments are illegal and those that are legal are a great problem for the city, because they expel residents from their neighbourhoods and increase housing prices.' If hotels are too expensive, consider a hostel instead – and avoid staying in peak season between May and September. Ordering the wrong type of coffee 'You can spot Brits at an Italian coffee bar because they're the ones hanging around in clusters, waiting to order 'large' cappuccinos – but we only have one size,' says Kenny Dunn. A long-term Rome resident and founder of Eating Europe food tours, he's well-versed in Italy's coffee culture, unlike most Britons. 'When in Rome, don't queue for the barista to take your order: stroll in confidently, and order the right coffee for the time of day at the counter, which means no cappuccino after 11am. After dinner, opt for an espresso – and yes, it's espresso not expresso.' Driving too slowly While speeding on road trips is obviously a no-no, slowing to a snail's pace is a guaranteed way to get locals riled up. 'Tourists drive like they've never seen a bend before,' says Lake District-based travel writer Monique Gadella. 'On a road where I drive 50mph, they do 30mph AND break for every bend – even the most shallow ones. It's so frustrating! If people just let go of the accelerator they'll slow down enough to [take the] corner.'
