Paulo Bernard says it like it is

The Brenta canal in the lovely Veneto region; it's not just Venice that has canals.

Nick and I recently returned from a  trip to Italy.

We went to Verona and Padua, tourist destinations, but more provincial perhaps than Rome, which was the last place in Italy that we visited a couple of years ago.

We found a country, which , while still wonderful in many ways, was in other ways sadly diminished. This saddens me greatly.  I lived in Italy for almost a year when I left school and have always loved the country and its people.

We complain about our roads, but the pothole count in the Venento was of a completely different order, witness perhaps to the fact that public finances have really hit rock bottom.

The country has lost its fizz and confidence, even the food isn't what it was.

I think the reason why can be found by following this link from Paulo Bernard HERE.  This rather exciteable person is described as 'the most censored Italian economist'. 

I would suggest that you might glean more 'facts' about the European Union, and Britain's relationship with it,  from this clip than you did in the entire EU Referendum Campaign. Italy has not been served well by its membership of the EU, and it shows!

I cannot promise that this will be my last post about the EU, but I will do my best to move on now.