After the war I was with my father in Italy and some one offered to sell him the Skull of Mussolini.

My father remarked that He had quite a big head so how come the skull is so small.

The Ialian said, but that is His when he was still young.

“Why does it always have to be Britain vs Italy?”

Simple. The British occupied us for two hundred years and on a clear day, one can see the coast of Sicily from Mellieha.

Not so sure about that Sir/Madam.

Take just one example: food

Old jokes associated bad food with the UK, but I can tell you that you will find top class cuisine in London rather than in Milan.

[Daphne – You’re right, and what’s more is that in London you’ll find literally everything, whereas in Milan it’s Italian all the way, and anything else is a crime and an insult.]

I tend to agree with you. Italy is considered as the fairest land in the Med, but to say it’s great is something debatable.

Of course it could have been great, if there wasn’t that hideous incident of Piazza Loret, which was the work of the partiggiani who were nothing but communists.

The Italians have the habit of ridding themselves of those who try to make them great, from Julius Caesar to Him.

Who was it who said:

“Terra benedetta, gente maledetta”.

[Daphne – Did your father keep a bust of Mussolini in his study/the hallway, Silvio? I know of several Maltese families who did. And then some of them complained because they weren’t trusted.]

Daphne, you can’t bash Italian design like that. True, Italian design can be a bit extravagant sometimes but you have to give it some credit. But I do agree that Italy shouldn’t be seen as the hot-bed of style by Malta.

Personally I always loved Scandinavian design and Scandinavian style in general. It’s very minimalist, modest yet very effective and forward-looking. I’d like to see more Scandinavian style, design and fashion around rather than always Italian.

Ha! Touche! Couldn’t have put it better! Italy was the greatest up to the settecento. From there onwards it’s all downhill!

For goodness sake, does it really matter? And what about France and Spain and Norway or whatever?

I used to be an Italy person and vowed that I’ll never go to London because there’s nothing much to see (stupid me). Until I needed to go for an exam and discovered the charm of London. I suppose it’s silly to side with one country as both have notable interesting features.

Marelli

With British help, it finally came together in the latter half of the 19th century. And within 50 years it was a dictatorship.

In two world wars it twice fought on both sides. The Mafia were running most of the country within a couple of decades of its birth. It’s only conquest? Abyssinia – gassing peasants who fought with little more than pitchforks.

In the 50 years after the war, they had over 40 governments. And who amongst us hasn’t been caught up in a ‘sciopero’ at Fiumicino or Malpensa?

Given their record, should we be surprised at the mess they made of the No. 1 Dock/Rialto promenade?