The smart choice for summer: staycations

Gordon Brown has opted for the Lakes rather than a long-haul trip this summer – and he's not alone. Most leaders don't want to be seen abroad in a recession
.........
Berlusconi: Whipped into shape
Most people in high profile, high pressure jobs like to let their hair down a little come holiday season.
But after all the partying with young starlets and call girls, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, inset, probably feels he has done all that. This year, to the relief of his frazzled PR people, he has opted for a more ascetic summer break.
Of course, with 18 properties, staying at home isn't quite so boring for Mr Berlusconi as it is for the rest of us. The libidinous media mogul is retreating to his villa in Arcore, right, outside Milan, and is relying on a disciplinarian Austrian lady to whip him into shape. During their 10-day stay in Arcore, Frau Gertraud Mitterrutzner von Guggenberg and her team, from a private clinic in the mountains of South Tyrol, will subject the 72-year-old Mr Berlusconi to a strict daily routine of muesli and sit-ups. The official line: the stay will "allow him to slim down and reactivate his metabolism".
The notoriously vain Prime Minister is concerned about the extra pounds he's put on as a result of steroid injections needed for his neck pain. "I'm doing 10 days of sporting therapy, because with the cortisone that I've taken I need to burn off a bit of weight," he told reporters. The Von Guggenberg clinic, which espouses a strict diet and hydrotherapy, has proved a favourite of Italian celebrities past and present, from fashion designer Ottavio Missoni to actor and "Dolce Vita" star, Marcello Mastroianni. After the lurid headlines of recent months, Mr Berlsuconi will hope the treatments reinvigorate him for the fray.
But there will be extra pressure on Frau Mitterrutzner von Guggenberg to work miracles in the purification department now the Prime Minister has decided to shelve his pilgrimage to the shrine of Padre Pio. The trip was cancelled when it became obvious such a PR stunt was more likely to incite Catholic anger than appease it.
For the rest of August, the resilient, but politically wounded, Prime Minister will spend time with his grandchildren in Arcore, no doubt praying the ladies in his life don't produce more nasty surprises.

Michael Day

Tuesday, 4 August 2009
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/the-smart-choice-for-summer-staycations-1766948.html