Faraway, so close

5 things you must do in Italy

ssa — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 22:55:00 GMT

Let's sum up the things that are a must-do if you visit Italy, from North to South.

1-Visit Trieste

Trieste is the last Italian city just before the border with Slovenia, former Yugoslavia.

This city was annexed to Italy just after the Second World War, so it is easy to find people speaking Yugoslavian, and also, since it is pretty close to Austria, you will hear people speaking Italian with kind of a “German” accent.

This proximity has also influences on the food, you will eat bratwurst and Sacher and strudel as if you were in Vienna, but also on the temper and behaviour of people, who are less messy than the average Italian.

Trieste is our Chicago, our “windy city”, it is indeed one of the main ports of the country, along with Civitavecchia, Naples and Genua, and so it sits straight on the sea, the City hall has a great view on the bay just in front of it.

This makes winter really windy, with wind speeds that reach even more than 100 km per hour. sometimes This is what we call the “bora”.

Trieste is a mixture of Italian and Austro-Ungarian elegance, it is small and easy to walk through and a good starting point to go to the east or to go towards the Dolomiti.

2-Have aperitivo on the Navigli, Milan

Milan is the city where the aperitivo is at its best. Most people have dinner on it, as it is so abundant. But, if you want a kick of also a certain counterculture while you are in the Italian city of fashion and business, head towards the Navigli, you will discover a sort of little Venice right outside the business centre of Milan, where, on the two sides of the docks along the river, you can choose many hip places and trendy restaurants to sooth your desire of Negroni or Spritz and eat something.

3-Go to the Carnival in Poggio Mirteto, close to Rieti, central Italy

As you might know, Italy is where the Pope resides. I mean, in the centre of Rome, there is another country, the Vatican, which also happens to be right in the centre of our country.

Centuries ago the Pope was not just an old man that greeted people outside a window on Sundays, once the Vatican had an active army and fought wars.

So, to make Italy united, Garibaldi and his soldiers had to fight also against the Pope, fisically and bureaucratically.

They did both, but, before that, there is the story of this small village in the mountains 100km away from Rome, Poggio Mirteto, that fought against the army of the Pope and won.

Since then, the Carnevalone Liberato (Freed Carnival) takes place on the first Sunday of the Quaresima (Lent), starting from the morning to around 20pm, when a straw representation of the Pope is burnt.

It is a crazy day on which people dress up as devils, sexy nuns, Popes or whatever and drink and laugh as much as they can.

4-Have a walk in Garbatella neighborhood, Roma

Roma, despite being a big city almost impossible to cross on foot, is one of the nicest places to walk through if you focus on one neighborhood at a time.

Garbatella is one of them. Once the centre of vernacular Rome, here is where the people who worked at the Central Markets lived, now it is renewed and growing as a cultural centre where thatres, such as Palladium, where the important RomaEuropa Festival takes place, and also it is the place where the love for the main football team of the city, AS Roma, is felt.

If you wander around the beautiful 40's houses you will find many graffitis recalling the victory of the League by AS Roma in 2001, with portraits of the heroes of that time, among whom there is the much beloved and iconic Francesco Totti.

5-Go to the Egadi, islands in front of Trapani, Sicily

Just after having bought some panelle in front of the docks, you can jump on a ferry to Favignana, the bigger of the three Egadi islands. Once there, rent a bike and decide where to go to have a bath and get your suntan. Keep in mind that if the sea is rough on one side, you can easily go to the other side, where the water should be calm.

Levanzo and above all Marettimo are really worth a visit, you can get there by boat, try to ask for a lift from one of the fishermen or purchase a one day trip at the port in Favignana.

Marettimo has the cleanest and bluest water I have ever seen. Though, beware of some jellyfish which happen to wander around!

Worst/Best in Italy

ssa — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 03:08:00 GMT

THE WORST

It is easy and pretty clear what is worst in Italy.

Politics.

In the years, this country, well known for fashion and good food, has been held by corrupted governments.

Those of you who come from countries with a relatively stable political situation would be kind of confused by the recent Italian political history.

A Republic from 1946, after a referendum that abolished monarchy and banned any reviving of fascism, Italy has known too many governments to count them.

Starting from the early '50s, one party, with an important influence from the Vatican, did the rule of thumb in Italian politics the Democrazia Cristiana.

But those where also the times when the Communist parties were becoming stronger because they were closer to the masses.

This could not be possible in the country where the Pope lived, so mind manipulation was made on how the communists were bad and could do bad to the country.

And suddenly it was the 60s, when the country encounterd a massive financial boom, and everybody felt rich and happy.

And then it came the 70s and a certain political conscience came up, youth organised radios and parties against the status quo. This was the “bloody decade” of political terrorism that ended with the kidnapping and homicide of the secretary of Democrazia Cristiana.

Mystery has since then covered that crime, except for the fact that it lead to a fusion between Democrazia Cristiana and the Socialist party, held by Bettino Craxi.

In the 90s, it was revealed that the Democrazia Cristiana and the Socialist party bribed and stole money from everywhere and everyone, that is in one word, the Italians.

But this was not enough since we, the Italians, never learn from bad experiences, and so the “godson” of Craxi, Silvio Berlusconi, decided to found his own party and get in the game.

Since 1994, except for short breaks in which the opposition parties made their worst to become less and less powerful compared to Berlusconi's smile, he rules Italy.

For those who voted for him, he is a sort of blessing, an entrepreneur who made his own fortune starting from nothing, could not bring nothing less than success to our country.

While those who don't like him and wish and hope for a real opposition to rise up, it seems like living in a nightmare where funds for culture are cut down while online casinos and bingo palaces get Statal fundings.

Something is appearing to change, though, in the Italian spirit in these last months; the usual gluttony seems to have been defeated by the critical economic situation in which we are dipped in, so maybe, there will be an “Italian spring”, soon.

THE BEST

As geographical position, Italy has it all.

And it was obvious in the centuries, since this country has been prey to many different people and cultures: Barbarians, Normands, Greek, Spanish, French, Austrian, Arab.

Each culture left something of itself when leaving.

One of the nice things the Ancient romans did also when conquering new places was to save the conquered people's culture.That happened also viceversa.

If you go to Sicily, traces of Arab architecture can be easily found in Palermo or Trapani, and also food culture: for instance in San Vito lo Capo, a small village close to Trapani, west Sicily, every year, every September there is the most famous Cous cous festival in Italy and maybe in Europe. Cooks from all over Northern Africa and Sicily come over to offer this food which is easily found in every restaurant of the island.

Italy is right in the middle of the Mediterranean, which makes its climate moderate in both winter and summer. Sun is a major blessing in this country, since there are more sunny days than rainy ones.

Culture is at hand., from ancient to postmodern.

Indeed, this year, Rome, home of the Colisseum and St Peter's basilica, has witnessed two great contemporary art museum openings, which put the Eternal city almost at a European level.

MaXXi and Macro museums, designed by star architects Zaha Hadid and Odile Decq, were inaugurated last March and have a stunning structure and interesting collection pieces such as Anish Kapoor and Gilbert&George.

Photos: Mybackyard

ssa — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 18:07:00 GMT

A few pics of Italy from my point of view

Photos: Italy

ssa — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 17:58:00 GMT

Italy through my camera lens

My Do's and Don't in Italy

ssa — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 17:48:00 GMT

DO's

1- Open your eyes

Italy is the place of many contradictions, spanning from the South of Europe to the North of Africa, it could not be different.

You will feel and see how it is different to speak to someone from Milan or Trento, rather than with someone from Rome, Naples or Palermo.

Looks also are kind of different, though you could find as many blondes with blue eyes in Sicily as in the North-east, that's because the normands conquered that part of the country centuries ago.

Italy usually is Rome, Florence, Venice, two days to visit each city and then maybe, if you have some days left, a visit to the Chianti region or to Rimini and the seaside.

This leaves the rest of Italy completely unknown, which is a pity.

Thanks to low cost airlines, now it is easier to go many times to the same place, so if you don't manage to see le Cinque Terre or Sicily on your first visit, then you should definitely keep it in the agenda for the next time.

A little treasure which is becoming a must-see in recent years is the Giardino dei tarocchi in Capalbio, south of Tuscany.

Created by artist Nikki de Saint-Phalle, it is a coloured counterpart to the Parco dei mostri in Bomarzo, Viterbo, which is 2 hours from Rome.

Hippy sculptures guide your way through the garden, which is open only from April to October.

If you do both gardens, then, once in Viterbo, you could take a train or a bus to Calcata, a medieval village inhabitated by artists.

2- Trust public transportation

Though every single Italian, including me, would complain about the National train company or the rather awful public transportation service in Rome, use it, because it will take you almost anywhere.

For example, if for some reason you are staying in a hotel close to the airport in Rome, you could save lots of money to spend in the trashy gift shops around the Vatican by taking the local train which connects Fara Sabina to Poggio Mirteto that stops in Roma S.Pietro. It is a nice ride in the middle of the city, usually with a seat available which is not always the same in the underground or on buses.

If you want to go to other cities, you just have to browse the different choices you have, because maybe, if you want to go to the sea, you will only have to take a train and a bus instead of jumping from buses to taxis.

I am presuming you are on a budget, if you are not, go take taxis, our economy will be grateful!

3- Try to think out of stereotype

Most of Italians are loudmouth, fashion addicted, overly tanned. But not all of them.

You will find the usual stereotype in the usual places, but if you just move a little, you will be probably suprised to find more hippy-like communities, this applies to places like Pigneto in Rome and i Navigli in Milan or Piazza Santa Margherita in Venice.

So, have your choice.

4- Be curious

Though it happens that people get scammed or robbed, Italy is as dangerous as any other western touristic place, so chill out and behave as you will do at home.

Be careful with your belongings as you would be in Pittsburgh and feel free to go and check the only alley which is not undersieged by tourist and souvenir sellers, it would probably be a suprise.

Most of the cities in Italy have a Time Out edition in English with things to do, and some of the major cities have a free press magazine called Zero, which reports all the nice things to do in Rome, Florence or Milan, and most of them are free! So look out for those magazines, check the walls to see posters of events, and you will add a different taste to your holiday.

DON'Ts

1-Go around in flip-flops

This is not because Italians are fashion addicted, but it's because on the first place, flip-flops worn in the city are ugly, and it implies that your feet are bound to become dirty in five seconds and that they are open to whatever accidents there could be around.

It is a must to avoid to wear them at night if you want to get inside a decent place to eat.

Even Birkenstocks are better, but please, not with socks.

2-Know your limits

This is a costume of some kind of tourist, or students, who are not allowed to drink in their homecountry and so decide that since there is not such a prohibition in Italy, well, it is the time to go out of control.

Well, this does not give a good image of you and your country, I have to say.

I mean, partying is great and Italy is the place to be to do so, but please, know your limit.

If you feel that you want to throw the last bottle you finished in the air to see what happens, then, maybe that's a signal to stop drinking.

My Travel Writing Scholarship 2011 entry

ssa — Fri, 4 Feb 2011 03:55:00 GMT

When leaving from Rome, Salvador da Bahia, Brazil is more or less at the same distance as New York.
It takes six hours to get from one of the oldest cities in the world to one of the most vibrating ones of North America.
And that's the same when you leave, after a short break in Lisbon, towards one of the most vibrating cities of South America.
Salvador is the first big city of the NorthEast of Brasil, from there on, you understand that something is different, faces and colors change.
As an European, you think that Brazilian people should all look like Pele, but indeed, and mostly in the South you will find tall blond nordic looking people, and even some with German or Japanese origin.
That's because Brazil, like most of the Southamerican country was once the place of great immigration.
So that is why most of the South of Brazil, also maybe because it much closer to Argentina,where heaps of Europeans (and tons of Italians) dropped in the fifties, looks like Europe, while, from Salvador to Fortaleza, you get a reminder of both slavery issues and native indios history.
Once there, forget people moving by helicopter as you might have seen in Sao Paulo, here the struggle is to have something to eat everyday.
We were a group related to an association linked to the Sem Terra movement which helped the people of several “assentamentos” in the North East of the country to develop projects to fertilize the land they were living in.
Our aim was to testify that the projects were going on as they should.
Salvador was the first hit to the heart, a city where in opposition to what you are used to, the poorest live in the historical city centre while the richest live in front of the sea in sky high skyscrapers, with barbwire on the walls and armed guards to defend them.
And everybody lives in perfect indifference of one another.
Then you move on to the country, “O interior” and things change. Forget the skyscrapers, forget kids snorting glue or putting their little hands in your pockets in a desperate seek of money.
In some cases, you don't even have a proper floor and raw bricks are the walls of the house. And in this cases you are the rich one of the community.
That is what is like in villages like Alcantara, far NorthEast, in Maranhao, and pale people like us,“os branquinhos” are also a great amusement for the kids.
It is nice to be on the otherside and feel like what it is to be appointed as the different one, for once in a while.
In these assentamentos the most striking thing is the perfect organization in which alcohol is banned, inside the assentamento and everyone has the right and the duty to be part of the community.
Everybody is aware of the fact that he is essential for the wellbeing of the whole community.
The assentamento works for its own sustainment by teaching their kids the basics of education but also how to plough the land.
The point is trying to keep the youth in the country and not make them leave for the city, or at least make them love the land so much that once they got their higher education in the city, they come back to help improve the land.
It is an utopical situation made true, at least within the walls of the assentamento.