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Chiantishire
Chiantishire is a nickname for an area of Tuscany, Italy, where many upper class British citizens have moved or usually spend their holidays. The word is a late 20th century neologism and derives from Chianti, a red wine produced in central Tuscany, in particular in the provinces of Siena and Florence. The location rose to prominence in the UK in the mid 1990s when then Prime Minister Tony Blair chose it as one of his preferred summer retreats. Celebrities who have owned properties in the area include Sting, Bryan Ferry, Antonio Banderas and Richard Gere. The novel '' Summer's Lease'' by John Mortimer and its British television adaptation starring Sir John Gielgud characterise satirically the manners and mores of British expatriates in Chiantishire.Mortimer, John, "Summer's Lease," London, The Penguin Group, 1988 The Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a Departments of the Gove ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tuscany Italy (334557752)
Tuscany ( ; ) is a region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its influence on high culture. It is regarded as the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance and of the foundations of the Italian language. The prestige established by the Tuscan dialect's use in literature by Dante Alighieri, Petrarch, Giovanni Boccaccio, Niccolò Machiavelli and Francesco Guicciardini led to its subsequent elaboration as the language of culture throughout Italy. It has been home to many figures influential in the history of art and science, and contains well-known museums such as the Uffizi and the Palazzo Pitti. Tuscany is also known for its wines, including Chianti, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Morellino di Scansano, Brunello di Montalcino and white Vernaccia di San Gimignano. Having a strong linguistic and cultural identity, it is sometimes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tuscany
Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its influence on high culture. It is regarded as the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance and of the foundations of the Italian language. The prestige established by the Tuscan dialect's use in literature by Dante Alighieri, Petrarch, Giovanni Boccaccio, Niccolò Machiavelli and Francesco Guicciardini led to its subsequent elaboration as the language of culture throughout Italy. It has been home to many figures influential in the history of art and science, and contains well-known museums such as the Uffizi and the Palazzo Pitti. Tuscany is also known for its wines, including Chianti, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Morellino di Scansano, Brunello di Montalcino and white Vernaccia di San Gimignano. Having a strong linguistic and cultural identity, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chianti
Chianti is an Italian red wine produced in the Chianti (region), Chianti region of central Tuscan wine, Tuscany, principally from the Sangiovese grape. It was historically associated with a squat bottle enclosed in a straw basket, called a ''fiasco (bottle), fiasco'' ("flask"; : ''fiaschi''). However, the ''fiasco'' is now only used by a few makers of the wine; most Chianti is bottled in more standard-shaped wine bottles. In the late 19th century, Baron Bettino Ricasoli (later Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Italy) helped establish Sangiovese as the blend's dominant grape variety, creating the blueprint for today's Chianti wines. The first definition of a wine area called ''Chianti'' was made in 1716. It described the area near the villages of Gaiole (Chianti), Gaiole, Castellina (Chianti), Castellina and Radda (Chianti), Radda; the so-called ''Lega del Chianti'' and later ''Provincia del Chianti'' (Chianti province). In 1932 the Chianti area was complet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Summer's Lease (TV Series)
''Summer's Lease'' is a British television drama series which aired in four parts on BBC Two in 1989. It is based on John Mortimer's novel of the same title, adapted by the author. Sir John Gielgud won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for his performance and the soundtrack, composed by Nigel Hess was named by the Television and Radio Industries Club Best Television Theme. Cast * Susan Fleetwood as Molly Pargeter (4 episodes) * John Gielgud as Haverford Downs (4 episodes) * Michael Pennington as Hugh Pargeter (4 episodes) * Rosemary Leach as Nancy Leadbetter (4 episodes) * Caroline Waldron as Henry Pargeter (4 episodes) * Veronica Lazar as Baronessa Dulcibene (4 episodes) * Suzanne Hay as Sam Pargeter (4 episodes) * Samantha Glenn as Jack Pargeter (4 episodes) * Siria Betti as Giovanna (4 episodes) * Denis Lill as Ken Corduroy (3 episodes) * Gabrielle Anwar as Chrissie Kettering (3 episodes) * Mel Martin as Rosie Forti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Foreign, Commonwealth And Development Office
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Department for International Development (DFID). The FCO was itself created in 1968 by the merger of the Foreign Office (FO) and the Commonwealth Office. The department in its various forms is responsible for representing and promoting British interests worldwide. The head of the FCDO is the Foreign Secretary (United Kingdom), secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, commonly abbreviated to "foreign secretary". This is regarded as one of the four most prestigious positions in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, Cabinet – the Great Offices of State – alongside those of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Gielgud
Sir Arthur John Gielgud ( ; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the British stage for much of the 20th century. A member of the Terry family theatrical dynasty, he gained his first paid acting work as a junior member of his cousin Phyllis Neilson-Terry's company in 1922. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), he worked in repertory theatre and in the West End theatre, West End before establishing himself at the Old Vic as an exponent of Shakespeare in 1929–31. During the 1930s Gielgud was a stage star in the West End and on Broadway theatre, Broadway, appearing in new works and classics. He began a parallel career as a director, and set up his own company at the Sondheim Theatre, Queen's Theatre, London. He was regarded by many as the finest Prince Hamlet, Hamlet of his era, and was also k ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Mortimer
Sir John Clifford Mortimer (21 April 1923 – 16 January 2009) was a British barrister, dramatist, screenwriter and author. He is best known for short stories about a barrister named Horace Rumpole, adapted from episodes of the TV series '' Rumpole of the Bailey'' also written by Mortimer. Early life Mortimer was born in Hampstead, London, the only child of Kathleen May (née Smith) and (Herbert) Clifford Mortimer (1884–1961), a divorce and probate barrister who became blind in 1936 when he hit his head on the door frame of a London taxi but still pursued his career. Clifford's loss of sight was not acknowledged openly by the family.Helen T. Verongo"John Mortimer, barrister and creator of Rumpole, is dead" ''International Herald Tribune'', 16 January 2009. This obituary was also carried by ''The New York Times''; a more complete version than the version on the ''IHT'' website is onlin John Mortimer was educated at the Dragon School, Oxford, and Harrow School, where he j ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Summer's Lease
''Summer's Lease'' is a novel by Sir John Mortimer, author of the Rumpole novels, which is set predominantly in Italy. It was first published in 1988 and made into a Summer's Lease (TV series), British television mini-series starring John Gielgud, Sir John Gielgud, first shown in 1989. The title "Summer's Lease" is a play on a line from William Shakespeare's Sonnet 18: ''And summer's lease hath all too short a date''. The novel involves the leasing of a Tuscany, Tuscan villa for the summer holidays. It is divided into six parts: "Preparations", "Arrival", "First Week", "Second Week", "Third Week", and "The Return". Novel summary Molly Pargeter is a forty-something wife, and mother of three girls, who leads a stable but dull life in 1980s West London. She feels overweight and there is no passion in her relationship with her husband Hugh, who is secretly seeing another woman. For most of her life she has found escape in detective novels and books on art, especially about the fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Gere
Richard Tiffany Gere ( ; born August 31, 1949) is an American actor. He began appearing in films in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in ''Looking for Mr. Goodbar (film), Looking for Mr. Goodbar'' (1977) and a starring role in ''Days of Heaven'' (1978). Gere came to prominence with his role in the film ''American Gigolo'' (1980), which established him as a leading man and a sex symbol. Gere's other films include ''An Officer and a Gentleman'' (1982), ''The Cotton Club (film), The Cotton Club'' (1984), ''No Mercy (1986 film), No Mercy'' (1986), ''Pretty Woman'' (1990), ''Sommersby'' (1993), ''Intersection (1994 film), Intersection'' (1994), ''First Knight'' (1995), ''Primal Fear (film), Primal Fear'' (1996), ''Runaway Bride (film), Runaway Bride'' (1999), '' Dr. T & the Women'' (2000), ''Shall We Dance? (2004 film), Shall We Dance?'' (2004), ''I'm Not There'' (2007), ''Arbitrage (film), Arbitrage'' (2012) and ''Norman (2016 film), Norman'' (2016). For portraying Billy Flynn (C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bryan Ferry
Bryan Ferry (born 26 September 1945) is an English singer and songwriter. He became known as the frontman of the band Roxy Music and also launched a solo career. His voice has been described as an "elegant, seductive croon". He also established a distinctive image and sartorial style: according to ''The Independent'', Ferry and his contemporary David Bowie influenced a generation with both their music and their appearances. Peter York described Ferry as "an art object" who "should hang in the Tate". Born to a working-class family, Ferry studied fine art and taught at a secondary school before pursuing a career in music. In 1970 he began to assemble Roxy Music with a group of friends and acquaintances in London, and took the role of lead singer and main songwriter. The band achieved immediate international success with the release of their self-titled debut album in 1972, containing a rich multitude of sounds, which reflected Ferry's interest in exploring different genres of mu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antonio Banderas
José Antonio Domínguez Bandera (born 10 August 1960), known professionally as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish actor. Known for his work in films of several genres, he has received numerous accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival Award and a Goya Award, as well as nominations for an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, and a Tony Award. Films in which he has appeared in have grossed over $7.7 billion worldwide. Banderas made his acting debut at a small theater in Málaga, where he caught the attention of director Pedro Almodóvar, who gave the actor his film debut in the screwball comedy '' Labyrinth of Passion'' (1982). They have since collaborated on many films, including '' Matador'' (1986), '' Law of Desire'' (1987), '' Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown'' (1988), '' Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!'' (1989), '' The Skin I Live In'' (2011), and '' Pain and Glory'' (2019), the last of which earned him the Cannes Film Festival Award for B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sting (musician)
Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner (born 2 October 1951), known as Sting, is an English musician, activist, and actor. He was the frontman, principal songwriter and bassist for New wave music, new wave band the Police from 1977 until their breakup in 1986. He launched a solo career in 1985 and has included elements of rock, jazz, reggae, classical, New-age music, new-age, and worldbeat in his music. Sting has sold a combined total of more than 100 million records as a solo artist and as a member of the Police. He has received three Brit Awards, including Brit Award for British Male Solo Artist, Best British Male Artist in 1994 and Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, Outstanding Contribution to Music in 2002; a Golden Globe Award, Golden Globe; an Emmy Award, Emmy; and four Academy Awards, Academy Award nominations. As a solo musician and as a member of the Police, Sting has received 17 Grammy Awards. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
