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There has to be a sense of gloating self-satisfaction in escaping the UK in January, even more so if your journey out and back is not disrupted by weather, industrial action or mechanical failure.

I have never thought that I suffered from Seasonal Affective Disorder, but I have come to dread this month, and in 2026 the Gods have served up the UK with a delicious and unremitting cocktail of snow, rain and freezing temperatures, like an interrogator waiting for a suspect to break.

The subject of children may not be for everyone, but if it does not turn you off, here is my take on the next stage on.

I did not live in expectation of becoming a grandad. Of course I quietly hoped for it, but it was better to enjoy being a dad, and if grandchildren were to arrive, then great. 

And they have arrived, two in the last eighteen months (one to each daughter, to avoid any confusion), and it has been great.

I am in exalted company. I have read that Meghan Markle has just hit a 90 day streak in French.

Duolingo is a highly successful language learning app. You score points (XPs) from various activities including speaking. There are leagues, and you move up and down dependent on how much you practise. The app is fronted by Duo, a cartoony owl. 

Smaller than Florence, but beautifully formed. I knew little about it before going.

The off the cuff impression from friends was food capital of Italy. Stanley Tucci on steroids. Nicknamed La Grassa (the fat one - the City, not Stanley, who is reprehensibly thin). Wave arrividerci to any recent healthy eating improvements.

The first-hand thumbnail is an Italian city boasting a lot more than nosh.

It sounds prestigious, the Southwark Council Selective Licensing Scheme. It happens to be a legislative tool that a local authority can use to drive up standards of private renting when the tenant comprises a single-family household or a household occupied by no more than 2 unrelated sharers.