Now, don’t get me wrong. I love Italians or else I wouldn’t live in their beautiful country. But sometimes they, like most of us, have maddening manias. One of them is for their telefonini or, as we know them, mobile phones. According to the European Union Italians own more of them than any other Europeans. It’s a national love affair. They combine a skill they excel in, namely, talking, together with another foible, their fascination with the latest-the-better technology. They use them any time of the night or day and in any place you can think of – in the street, on their bikes, strap hanging on the bus, at the hairdresser, in a queue at the post office or bank and, most infuriating of all, on long distance high-speed train trips.

Despite an invitation over the train’s loudspeaker system asking passengers to respect the peace and quiet of fellow travellers, in first or second-class carriages from Rome to Milan via Florence and back, there will be a constant cacophony of ring tones, anything from Beethoven’s 9th to roosters crowing. Then, comes the best bit of all when you, as an unwilling prisoner, have to assist, word for word, your neighbours’ often lengthy one-sided conversations about their business affairs, sex lives or simply how to cook the pasta.

Last year good news arrived for Italy’s phone junkies. Not so good for the rest of us, however. The European Union has become the first region in the world to lift the ban on using phones on aeroplanes in its airspace. As soon as the technology is up and running this, for me at least, will mean only one of two things when flying in and out of Italy in the future.  I’ll be taking a large dose of tranquilizer before takeoff or else pack king-size earplugs in my hand luggage. – perhaps both

But a thought just struck me, is it possible that I am the only person out there that has a love-hate relationship with these gismos?