Alex's beautiful summer essentials

Everything you need for the season ahead:

1. Florence: Rothko in Florence at Palazzo Strozzi, until 23 August, seventy works, curated by his son Christopher Rothko, a few staged in the Museo di San Marco alongside Fra Angelico's frescoes.

2. Rome: the Festival des Cabanes at Villa Medici, until 28 September, six architectural installations in the historic gardens, built from mycelium, travertine and terracotta.

3. Asturias: for the full solar eclipse on 12 August — the first total eclipse visible from mainland Spain in over a century.

4. Watch: Romería by Carla Simón — filmed along the Atlantic coast in Galicia, Alex's home region of Spain.

5. Summer Skin: Bio-retinol Daily Tonic + Tinted Balancing Face Oil + Solid Perfume Verde for summer evenings to remember.

6. Book: Funny Weather by Olivia Laing. Loved these essays.

7. Med vibes: Makes You Fly by Nice Guys, Dumbo Gets Mad.

8. London: always a good idea. Tracey Emin: A Second Life at Tate Modern, until 31 August.
   

9. Cocktail: Dark 'n' Stormy — dark rum, lime, ginger beer. The original mixable duo.