Julia Kolbert graduated in Classics (Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge) and taught Classics for 11 years. It was the letters of Pliny the Younger which first brought her to Lake Como, where she has lived for 15 years, working as a tourist guide. Her main loves are language, literature and history, as well as cooking and cricket. One qualification which she can no longer enjoy practising is that of an MCC Qualified Scorer.
Have you heard of the Valtellina and the Valchiavenna? If not, you are in the company of most people who have visited Italy – even those who know and love Lake Como, one of the great beauty spots of the world. Yet the northern finger of the lake touches the Valtellina valley, where the pre-Alps me...