You are certainly aware that in Italy we have a huge problem when it comes to the ability of attracting tourists to our Bel Paese (actually, more than one, right?).
Maybe the biggest problem is our ineptitude in promoting our beautiful country abroad. Of course, anybody knows about Rome, Venice, Florence but Italy is a land of uninterrupted beauty and there is much more to Italy than the (needless to say) wonderful towns mentioned above.
Perhaps not all tourists feel like spending their holidays in cities. Maybe you love the beach, the countryside, or maybe you feel like having a cooking class or a wine tasting experience which does not take place necessarily in the (needless to say) wonderful Tuscany. Maybe because you have already been there. Maybe because you don’t feel like ending up in a ‘tourist’ class but you feel like experiencing the ‘real’ Italy. Just as an Italian does.
Well, if you ever decide to come and experience the ‘real’ Italy, you know I’m here to help 😉
Anyway, today I’m presenting you a privately owned villa in Pesaro (Villa Guerrini) which I visisted last Sunday on FAI Spring Days.
From a mere artistic/historic point of view, it cannot be compared with other ancient villas in town (or just outside the town of Pesaro) as Villa Caprile,Villa Imperiale or Villa Miralfiore. However, the garden hosts an old ‘limonaia’ (a lemon-tree greenhouse) and I could not but pay a visit to it given the name of my blog 😉
Villa Guerrini (located in Pesaro, in the Marche region) was built in 1787 in neoclassical style as a holiday resort by the noble abbot Vincenzo Giordani. In 1893 the villa was bought by the Guerrini family who still own it today.
It is a little ‘jewel’ and looks so Italian to me. 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 you have never visisted Italy before: ‘What would you like to see and/or experience while in Italy?’
Your answers are important to me for many reasons: from simple curiosity to working reasons…Â Besides, you could give me new ideas for my future blog posts!
Grazie!
wherelemonsblossom.wordpress.com 
I like the smaller villages in Italy rather than the big cities too. I like meeting the people and talking with them. I like taking cooking classes and Italian classes, which really gives you a look into the real Italy. And I like small family owned restaurants.
Grazie mille for your comment. Yes, ‘meeting the people’, ‘talking with them’, sharing stories, better if around a lavishly decked table!
Some of the best tables are in Italy! Thanks for checking out my blog!
Gorgeous! I especially love the “limonaia” 🙂
Thank you, Liz, for leaving your comment. I am fond of lemons and ‘limonaie’ too 🙂
You’re already addressing my “What I’d like to do/see I haven’t done” item: look at Italy the way it is, and not the way it appears in the tourist guides and preconceived notions we travelers from abroad have in our heads. Thank you. Love the photo of the modern faucet emerging from the old stone face. An excellent detail.
Hi Brad. You’re absolutely right: ‘look at Italy the way it is’. I guess the exhortation is good when you visit any country. However some countries (and Italy is one of those) tend to be often associated with stereotypes. Travelling seeking for the ‘genius loci’?
I want to see AND HEAR what is Italy— visiting with someone who is local and is part story teller, historian and adventure planner would be wonderful. Cooking classes also hold my interest. I’ll take the city, the country, the sounds of Italy…
Grazie mille for leaving your comment! I hadn’t considered the aspect of ‘hearing’ and the ‘sounds of Italy’. You suggestted me a great idea on a new post: ‘Sounds of Italy’ (the sound of a ‘moka’ – coffee machine – while coffee is getting ready… the sound of my shoes walking on streets of cobblestone – ‘sampietrini – )… THANK YOU!
To see, hear, smell, taste and touch is the way we experience our world. So that is the way to tour Italy as well. To see the art and the landscape, to hear a coffee machine making Italian coffee, to smell flowers in bloom, to taste Italian food cooked for Italians and not tourist groups, to touch the walls of ancient buildings and walk the narrow streets that Italians walk daily. That’s how to experience Italy, whether for the first time, or as would be in my case, many times. You look as lovely as ever. good luck with your business.
Yes, you are right, George. To experience the world with all our five senses. This is what it’s all about 😉
It’s true, most people don’t get to the far reaches of Italy– I would love, love to rent a little Fiat (my daughter has a tiny brown one) and drive top to bottom and visit village churches, maybe sit in to worship. In your pictures they seem so beautiful and inviting. —Plus I’d like to eat my way across the country as well!! thanks for another beautiful post Simone!
Thank you, Rhonda! I love to visit churches too. My favourite are the little ones you find in mountain villages in northern Italy (they have the best tolling bells!). All churches have so many stories to tell 🙂
That sounds perfect Simona– churches for me can be so historic and beautiful, besides being a slice of the lives of many people in that place. And personally, it’s a joy to feel a kinship with other believers, sitting in their pews, praying in that place. It’s a blessing. thanks for all your beautiful posts. xo