The View from Bologna, like many Italians, returns to work today after the traditional August vacation period.

Bad weather coupled with uncompetitive prices appear to have hit the domestic Italian tourist market yet again, while a report in the weekend’s press suggested that Italians in the North of the country have started shopping in Switzerland, where prices are cheaper for not only petrol, but also food stuffs like mortadella!

As if gloomy weather and threats from Al-Qaeda weren’t enough for the country, yesterday an earthquake measuring 4.5 on the Richter scale hit Rome and its environs. It’s the largest earthquake to hit the capital since 1919, when a similar shake occured with the same epicentre, 4 or 5 km off the coast near Anzio.

The beaches on the coast near Rome were particularly hit by panic, with images of the December 26th tsunami in South East Asia still fresh in the public’s mind. Thankfully there were no serious injuries caused by either the quake or the rush inland from the holiday filled beaches.

For those who might think that the suggestion of a tsunami 20km from Rome is fanciful, it’s worth bearing in mind that one of the most damaging tsunamis recorded, prior to last December’s tragedy, was in 1908 when waves killed between 80-100,000 people in Sicily and Reggio Calabria when an earthquake occured in the strait of Messina.

Searching for a glimmer of hope amongst a decidedly gloomy post-holiday period press, there is one small thing to be thankful for. The same weather conditions that have ruined many a holiday will make for an excellent ‘vendemmia‘, or grape harvest for wine. Officials from the Confederazione Italiana Agricoltori are suggesting a harvest similar in quantity and quality to that of the excellent 1997. Roughly 50 million hectolitres are expected.

Every cloud …