Ellen is a writer and journalist based at the European University Institute in San Domenico di Fiesole. Raised in Edinburgh and the Scottish highlands, she moved to Florence in 2016 to escape the London treadmill. She loves the great outdoors, everyday adventures and tiny houses. She is also editor of TheStrix.com. Follow her on Twitter @ellen_halliday.
On Sunday, August 24, 1947, a young woman named Diana Athill boarded a train in London, bound for what Brits alone still call “the continent”. She travelled over ...