Brutalist Chinoiserie in Calabria

Along the Tyrrhenian coast on the gulf of Policastro you’ll find the fading legacy of a chain of dilapidated holiday homes. The unifying aesthetics are ornate green lanterns and “brutalist chinoiserie”. The look can’t have come cheap - but they are all falling apart now. (Buildings in the photos are in Praia a Mare and Tortora).

Brutalist holiday homes with a green laternBrutalist holiday homes with lanterns and chinoiserySwept brutalism in holiday homes, and green lanternsBrutalist holiday villas in Tortora


Bergamot soda - “green gold of Calabria”

A clear glass bottle of Deca Food Bergamotto drink, made in Italy, sits on a surface next to a patterned bag.

Over the decades I’ve been taking the train south from Napoli Centrale, the station has got busier and busier. And like other European cities, the growth in the number of homeless people living around the station is shocking.


Naples Central Station

A cityscape featuring modern skyscrapers and a large building with a distinctive geometric rooftop under a partly cloudy sky.

Starhotel Terminus, Naples, Italy ⭐️⭐️⭐️

A celebratory cake decorated with the Italian flag and Napoli Campioni 2023 alongside various pies and bread rolls is arranged on a wooden table.

I accidentally one-click bought some climate denialist garbage on Amazon by swiping too hard. I hesitated for a second before returning. Perhaps I should consider alternative viewpoints. I didn’t want to give the crank any money, though. Have I just cancelled?


I’ve got superstitious over the years over the order I put the vegetables into a ciambotta.


Mitigating the risk of extinction from an out of touch and amoral billionaire class should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.


Your occasional guide to understanding the right:

  • Classical Liberal = over-credentialed incel reactionary.
  • Free Speech Absolutist = loves sound of own voice. In a sexual way.
  • Contrarian = broken down boomer journalist desperate for clicks.

A coot among the pigeons

A group of pigeons and one black bird with a white beak are standing on a paved surface near a corner of a brick building.