What do you think of when I say: ‘Italy’? I’ve accidentally asked this question to the readers of Where Lemons Blossom while posting on ‘Montefabbri’, a beautiful little village near Pesaro. I have received answers from Australia to the U.S, from the United Kingdom to Italy. A few answers sounded familiar: ‘Italian food’, ‘history’, ‘beautiful women ;-); some others took me by surprise: ‘dogs sleeping in the sun’, ‘intense conversation’, ‘Inspector Montalbano’. All of them making me somehow proud of being Italian (apart from the sad, and unfortunately true, hint to the ‘waves of refugees’ – a pain for us Italians and for all European states urging us to do more to help and welcome them).
Terry, an author from Austrialia who is not particularly fond of travelling, wrote:
In any case,” I said. “If I want to visit anywhere in the world I read my WordPress blogs. Like the wonderful lady who lives near Valentino Rossi’s mum! (thank you, Terry!!!)
Anyway, following I’d like to share with you a few of the answers I got on what ‘sounds/looks Italian’, whatever this may mean 😉
In my previous post, written in Italian, I asked the same questions to Italians: ‘What do you think of when I say Italy?’ (apart from standing in long lines at the post office…).
I’ll go first: I like those haberdashery shops you still find in small villages dating back to the 1950’s (you can tell by their sign), still selling haberdashery from the 1950’s (old buttons or faded elastic bands) and run by the (probably) oldest blue-haired lady in the village (I mean, not really blue-haired, but still with a shade of blue/violet in her white hair).
Here are a few answers from WLB readers (by the way, thank you Francine, Sue, Terry and all the others!) on what is it that sounds/looks ‘Italian’ to them:
Beautiful food, beautiful women, fashion, cars, motorcycles, movie directors, movie stars, ‘Inspector Montelbano’, beautiful villages, dogs sleeping in the sun, sparkling ocean, (sadly) waves of refugees, wine and old men playing cards, intense conversations and of course Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Bugatti, Ducati, and all the others. the best food I’ve ever eaten, the most beautiful people I’ve ever seen, and more history than I could ever know
And what do you think of when I say: ‘Italy’?
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My first thought is the small villages just next to the sea, with all the old houses and a few cafés on the seafront 🙂
Thank you, Jesper! What a lovely setting you described. I cannot wait till Summer gets here so that I can order a cappuccino in one of those cafés on the seafront 😉
In comparison with the temperature here in Sweden at the moment, with -13 degrees in Stockholm. I would consider it possible to sit outside one of thoses cafés, as long as it is above 10 degrees at least. 😉
Uh Uh. I guess this is the reason why Northern Europeans dive into the (freezing for us Italian) water and swim happily here in April :-))
To me the sea water is always too cold. I start swimming only in August!!!
Well, I guess that we are quite easy to satisfy when it comes to swimming conditions 🙂
🙂
I think of beautiful landscape and wondrous art. warm people with smile brighter than the sun 🙂 I think of books and coffee. I think of la dolce vita.
Wow, thank you Ishita 🙂 You all are helping me think of beautiful things about Italy that I must always bear in mind!
Thanks to you, I could reconnect while having a crappy day at work 😉 🙂
Great!!! 🙂
Sienna, gelatto in Florence, sun, flowers, ancient stone churches, walking over cobblestone streets, magic.
That sounds great. Thank you for sharing your ‘Italy’ with us!
Grazie! Thank you for joining us in our little research! I love to hear comments from around the world about what sounds/looks Italian to non-Italians. I think that through your comments I’m getting to appreciate things which I wasn’t paying enough attention to before. Thank you so much!
Coming home… The first time I stepped foot in Pontelandolfo (BN) I could feel the passion of my ancestors coursing through my veins.
Coming home, feeling at home. What a beautiful sensation! Must come to Pontelandolfo sooner or later… Grazie per aver lasciato un tuo commento, Midge!
Vineyards. Romance. The movie LETTERS TO JULIETTE. Cobbled streets. Ancient cities bustling withe life. The Vatican.
Grazie for your feedback! Some really interesting and passionate comments are arriving from every corner of the world! Never saw ‘Letters to Juliette’. I will catch up as soon as possible. Grazie for the hint 😉
La meravigliosa Ape! Makes me think of bad boys circling in these on just two wheels instead of the three 🙂
Ah ah! You’re absolutely right!I love Ape too. This is why I posted that Ape picture 😉
I think of beauty in the age of so many parts of Italy– we live in a place where the oldest buildings are 50 years old– Looking at your blog always makes me want to check on plane tickets to Italy!! thanks Lidia…
Wow, thank you Rhonda! That is exactly the idea I intended to convey… getting people all around the world to know a lesser known part of Italy through small ‘Italian’ things like sharing a recipe, telling about a special event, writing about a trip to a hilltop village… Well, I read you are a teacher and have quite a big family with grandchildren… I guess it’s not easy for you to just get on a plane and fly to Italy… But if you ever do and decide to visit our region, I’ll be glad to give you some real ‘Italian’ and not ‘touristic’ tips 😉
It would be a dream come true to wander a summer through Italy and search out the beautiful out of the way places you’ve highlighted!! We retire in a couple years. maybe… And my sis lies in Kosovo with her husband. This Christmas her children all met up with them in Rome and traveled to Venice as well. So I heard all the lovely details of that trip. Thanks for sharing your views of Italy with us! xo
[…] Here I am presenting something which I feel is very Italian, but this time I’m not asking you ‘What do you think of when I say Italy’ but ‘What would you like to do/see while in Italy that you have not done before?’ or, if […]