'Prego!' ('You're welcome!' or, literally, 'I pray'.)

In the ancient Tuscan hilltop town of Anghiari, population 5,000, you have the choice of at least six chapels or churches. With a car, you'll have even more. The oldest, as far as I know, is the Chiesa di Santo Stefano just down the hill, dated to the 7th Century.

Last Sunday I walked the 5km out of town to the Sanctuario di Madonna del Carmine, for the exercise and because I have great memories of going there four years ago with Kate, one of my visitors from Australia. A true believer and a special friend, she loved it.

I might never set foot inside a church at home, but here in Italy I can't help but be moved by the grandeur, the stories, the history, belief, art and architecture that churches hold. There's a bit of magic about them. This one was built on the site where, on July 16, 1535, the Madonna was said to have appeared to a young shepherdess. The church and the old monastery of the Carmelites adjoining it were built between 1536 and 1552.

Sitting alone in one of its pews, listening to the organ being played, seeing the ancient paintings on the walls, looking way up to the very high timber ceiling, I drink in the peace.

Am I the only one who feels that the world is holding its collective breath at the moment? I envy people who find comfort in prayer.

Paul Kelly's Italian connection

Did you know that our Australian master songwriter Paul Kelly had a family connection with Italy? His Italian-speaking maternal grandfather, Ercole Filippini, was a leading baritone for the La Scala Opera Company in Milan. Touring Australia with a Spanish opera company in 1914 when WWI broke out, Ercole stayed, later marrying Anne McPharland who became Australia's first female orchestra conductor. Together they started the Italo-Australian Opera Company which toured Australia in the 1920s.

I came upon this little gem of a story recently while watching Paul Kelly – Stories of Me on Apple TV. Highly recommend it. It starts with him saying "Hello Nonna" and an image of cane-cutters, presumably in Queensland, listening to a woman singing opera in the fields.

What a national treasure Paul Kelly is; no saint, but doing his best to contribute some good in the world.

For evening entertainment here, I rely on streaming services on my laptop, although I am on the lookout for some live music. I recently enjoyed Mozart in the Desert, a series on Amazon Prime, as well as the sad but important movie, Till.

Television here is all in Italian, of course (despite a button which promises English subtitles), so I use it for more language instruction and for the news. Had a giggle recently when I came across Mick Dundee speaking Italian ("The wind," he says.), and what I guess was a true 'spaghetti Western'. Too funny.

My other entertainments are much the same as they are at home in Australia – ABC Sydney radio; occasionally Port Stephens FM to hear my colleagues there; lots of blues on Spotify; YouTube; The Sydney Morning Herald online; books; daily Wordle, sharing results with my dear daughter Coco and son-outlaw Daniel; and Lexulous (like Scrabble) with my cousin in Queensland. Normal life.

One of my pleasures in Anghiari is reading The New York Times international edition, which brings me news I don't usually see. Here is a selection for you:

• Africa is having a 'youthquake' and by 2050, one in four people on the planet will be African. The median age on the African continent is 19. In India, the world's most populous country, it is 28; in China and the United States, 38. Interesting.

• (On a related subject:) At China's top political gathering for women last month, President Xi Jinping pressed women to get married and have babies, making no mention of women at work, which had been a subject in the recent past. China's population has shrunk for the first time since the 1960s.

• Kenneth Branagh's West End revival of King Lear received a tepid review from Matt Wolf, who concluded: "The full majesty of King Lear needs time to unfold, and I've often seen productions twice as long that flew by. This one was over when many of those would be having their intermission and, emerging into the street after the show, I found myself pondering a curiously weightless production in which the wellsprings of human emotion have yet to be tapped." Ouch.

• On the other hand, Australian theatre director Barrie Kosky's new production of Chicago in Berlin was described by A.J. Goldman as "masterful and muscular", saying Kosky "has gone back to the original concept of a musical vaudeville with a heavy dose of bile and a dash of Brechtian alienation". Go Barrie.

Apart from that, of course, are constant updates on the battle in Gaza as well as lots of US news: Donald Trump's court case; the 2024 election; support for Trump in "battleground states" of the US where people complain that Biden is too old – fascinating, considering Trump, 77, is only three years younger; and, here's a beauty, the fact that "rebel Republicans" want to bomb Mexico, including "Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida who said he would send special forces into Mexico on 'Day 1' of his presidency, targeting drug cartels and fentanyl labs". I have no words.

Australia, so far, doesn't get a mention, which doesn't seem such a bad thing.

A Different Kind of Feud

Speaking of battles, Anghiari had a famous victory in 1440 which is still celebrated today – almost 600 years later – on June 29 every year. Troops from the Florentine territories (including Anghiari) fought the Milanese on horseback and foot, in suits of armour and with crossbows, lances, pikes and all manner of nasty sharp things. At the local museum I learned that the knife used to give the final blow was called the 'misericordia' ('mercy giver'). Mercifully, relatively few were killed.

You see, in this war there was an incentive not to kill but to take prisoners, keep them as hostages for ransoms, and take their horses, armour and banners. The battle was done and dusted in a matter of six hours, and of a total of more than 8,500 troops, it was estimated that 70 died.

The battle is celebrated because it was a determining factor in defining the borders of Tuscany. It was also the subject of a famous painting planned by Leonardo da Vinci in 1505. A number of preparatory studies by him exist, but the full painting was never completed.

This model of the battle scene is in Anghiari's Museo della Battaglia. Near the troops, on the right of the Corso Matteotti, the road which runs down from the walled town, the building represents the 7thC Chiesa Santo Stefano I mentioned before. •