I'm in a former mining town on coast of County Durham, north east England. When I first moved here from Lancashire in 1979 it was a town of about 25,000 people, and had THREE working coal mines. You can imagine the effect that Thatcher's programme of pit closures during the 80s had.

It's getting back on its feet again now, with smart housing, new shops planned, and small factories and call centres.

Hay, Paola - we're planning to visit Firenze, back end of September (hoping to get there by train from the UK). Apart from the obvious tourist sights, is there anything we should do or see? Any music going on? Ciao!