I’ve often been told that I’m more Italian than English.  I like coffee, tiramisu and risotto more than I like tea, trifle and Yorkshire puddings; I like Fiat 500s more than I like Minis; I like sun more than rain; I like waving my arms around more than I...

Shaking hands is a well established custom.  That doesn’t mean it isn’t a bit strange though.  Here are seven reasons why.1.  Movement. We all know that the handshake developed as a way of demonstrating that the participants were unarmed (that’s...

1.  Socks.  Our washing machine broke recently.  It was calamitous.  I was down to my last seven socks when the washing-machine-man came and mended it – and seven is certainly the wrong number of socks.  Only two of them matched each other – the pink...