A thundering, heavenly (and thus unequivocal) statement from the Almighty that there wouldn’t be that much rain, and that what cloud might appear would tend to be that silly, wispy stuff, would have helped too.But I suppose you can’t expect a region full of empty campsites and unsold special specs, T-shirts, luminous wands and a million other cheapo geegaws, to be entirely rational.Besides, Mr Lowe had been encouraged in his belief that all of us would want to decamp for the West Country this summer. “The Government needs to make a clear unequivocal statement that roads are not blocked and there is still plenty of room.”Or perhaps God should have become involved. Right now the tourist-exploiting classes – from St Ives to Exmouth – may well be shaking their heads in astonishment that many modern Britons failed to see the fun in driving down into the sea-girded bottleneck of Devon and Cornwall, in order to witness at first hand (weather permitting) a half hour of untimely gloom. Thus, on Monday, when things were looking particularly bleak for the eclipse industry, a Paul Lowe of the Total Eclipse Festival near Plymouth, nailed the culprits. “They have managed to put off both the regular visitors and the eclipse-goers,” he said of those Jeremiahs who had earlier been warning of blindness and gridlock. Further suppose that he then turns around and blames the government for your peculiar lack of interest.
The odds are that he would be working in the Cornish tourist industry.

But imagine for a moment an encounter with one of these imaginative sado-masochists, in which he expresses astonishment, that you cope with a sex life in which no sharp implement gets hammered through even the teeniest soft body part. The men who were swept up in the infamous Operation Spanner and who enjoyed – among other things – having their genitals nailed to a plank, have little in common with me, sexually. He’d drive half a continent to look at a picture, or stay up all night to take in a Palladian villa. But he wouldn’t cross the road for a supernova or – for that matter – a never-to-be-forgotten tumble with a shy family of mountain gorillas Name one gorilla who has ever written a good opera

All human beings are not fascinated by the same things Obviously. MY DAD never told me what it was like to witness the last total eclipse.

It must have happened when he was nine or 10, but it clearly left little impression upon him. Or perhaps the tough business of simply growing up in the East End of the Twenties left little time for literal star-gazing; contrary to nature, he just wasn’t that interested Art, yes. No newspaper has rebuked me because I’m not taking my holidays in Tuscany.” But how much will it cost us to have the British Prime Minister as a guest?La Nazione. He won’t be staying in any publicly-owned villas but in bed and breakfasts.”I don’t understand all this fuss about the Blairs, holiday. Strangely enough, while Blair has chosen Tuscany, Chiti is taking his holidays in Scotland. Summer becomes us.Corriere della SeraBLAIR IS at the villa with wife and kids at our expense. Beyond the controversy, the arrival of Tony Blair has been hailed by Vannino Chiti, president of Tuscan regional government, as a big victory.

Isn’t it wonderful?For once there are no condescending lectures bad jokes or worrying analyses of our finances – which are indeed something to worry about.The seaside air has defeated the big brother attitude of our Euro partners. But what these controversies reveal is a healthy dose of envy which we should pin on out chests like a war medal. Il Giorno
WHAT IF behind the British complaints there is some hostility towards Italy? Should we be offended? Do we really need to explain that, in a Europe that is united by trade, by currency and by cellphones, this holiday nationalism is ridiculous?Certainly not. As soon as this unfortunate holiday at San Rossore is over, the Blairs will be only too happy to return to their friends at Cusano, where they will be free from criticism and suspicions But for now, they are under siege. Girolamo and Nerina Strozzi have become friends of the Blair family, and several months ago the Prime Minister offered them hospitality at his country house in Sussex.

Last year he was the guest of Prince Girolamo Strozzi at Cusona, and in 1997 he was the guest of a wealthy but controversial Labour minister. During the winter he was invited, with his family, to visit another wealthy friend in the Seychelles. How could any London MP really represent their constituents – or their party – if they did not speak up?. BLAIR HAS made no secret of his love of the high life and luxury holidays.