Tea at Trianon: One Of Italy's Most Underrated Cities

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Saturday, November 30, 2024

One Of Italy's Most Underrated Cities

Turin. From Islands:

One special northern Italian city feels more like Paris than Rome, with wide cobbled boulevards, decadent Baroque and Art Nouveau architecture, and a riverside promenade. Turin, located in the northwestern Italian region of Piedmont halfway between Milan and the French border, has a rich and unique history. Following centuries of occupation by the French Savoy family, Turin was named the first capital of united Italy from 1861 until 1865. Since then, the city has gained many other accolades, from being the birthplace of Fiat and vermouth to housing the second-largest Egyptian museum in the world, Museo Egizio.

The city is known for its food and architecture, with a smattering of Michelin-starred restaurants, as well as landmarks like the Mole Antonelliana, whose pyramidal base and spindly tower can be seen across Turin, and Piazza San Carlo, a Baroque square at the heart of the city. With proximity to Milan and Gran Paradiso National Park, the oldest national park in Italy, Turin is a great jumping-off point for exploring northern Italy. Tour royal palaces, stroll beside the tranquil Po River, or sink your teeth into hearty Piedmontese dishes in one of Italy's most underrated cities. (Read more.)