Carla Powell

Diary – 23 February 2008

Carla Powell on the joys of the internet and the politics of Italy

issue 23 February 2008

Carla Powell on the joys of the internet and the politics of Italy

I am a late convert to the internet, but it has changed my life. I can sit here in my little farm in the Roman countryside and cultivate my olives — or, to be truthful, watch Dario the farm manager cultivate my olives — while keeping up with the world’s press, receiving photos of my newest granddaughter in Hong Kong and bombarding my friends with mis-spelled emails. Who needs the hassle of the big city, congestion charging, airport security or a social life? I can live my rural idyll while still feeling a part of what’s happening in the world beyond — enough anyway to sign off my emails ‘Carla (not Bruni)’.

Italy is heading towards elections in April. The state of the country is pretty dire, not unlike pre-Margaret Thatcher Britain.

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