Ask HN: Is the Italy of My Dreams Fact or Fiction?

[jdileo]

Hello! I'm Italian on both sides yet have never visited Italy, or any European country for that matter. [Context: I've traveled the U.S., Canada, Mexico & Caribbean extensively. Also Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand & Seychelles]

I'll be turning 50 later this year, thus my "bucket list" is consistently dominating an ever-growing percentage of mindshare.

I'm enamored with the small villages, family-first ethos and local artisans seemingly delighted in their quest to produce the best cheese, sausage, salumi, etc. Most recently Stanley Tucci's "Searching for Italy" series leaves me searching for plane tickets.

I'd be grateful to hear if the Italy of my dreams is real vs. fantasy.

[curtisblaine]

It's not unpleasant but it's exclusive. Small village life is not necessarily tourist-friendly, which from my pov is a plus. Italians from the villages will not necessarily include you in their life or treat you better, or cut you slack, because you're foreign.

[marxsta3]

Italy has many regions making it up. Cuisine and even the culture in one part might be quite different to another. Rome, Vatican primarily for it's history and architecture. I can only really speak of Northern Italy, Turin, Milan, Como, Venice and can recommend it. Whether its of your dreams is hard to say, each time I went it was to see relatives and friends so I saw a more authentic side which the average tourist might not see.

[ananiochita]

It's an unpleasant place. Very isolated in character and practical terms from even the closest neighbours. Suspicious and dismissive of anything other than their own very local way of thinking, even within the country. People are angrier and ruder than in most other places you know, based on your list.

Let's not get started on daily life in Rome and other filthy, permanently badly managed Italian cities -- of which Milan might be an exception at times.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/10/opinion/the-filthy-metaph...

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/10/rome-rubbish-c...

https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/in-rome-the-exploding-bu...

Etc. I could add links in other languages from Le Monde ( France ), El País ( Spain ), and pretty much any other country bordering or nearby for you to see what they say. Ask a Swiss, an Austrian, or a Slovene how it feels entering Italian roads when crossing the border. If I add my own life long experiences and expand on character and moral compass, or pride in one own's work, I'd be downvoted to oblivion and accused of making things up.

Services, transportation, infrastructure, business, food scene, daily life, safety, everything is lacking, everything's generally uncomfortable, unsettling, aggressive, and I suppose tourists don't stay long enough to see the worst, dazzled by art and ancient culture on display everywhere.

Edit : What Tucci ( or Clooney, who famously owns a house in Como and is so proud of his children speaking Italian ) say or show about Italy is not relevant or true to life. They literally make up stories for a living, act to make you feel what they want viewers to feel. They also live in a rich person's bubble and see what they want to see only. My family is in the same bubble, and good grief, is it mind-blowing when you peek out of it into real Italy.

[ananiochita]

( Sorry for the harsh reality check. Think of it this way; your family migrated for a reason. )

[oriettaxx]

> Think of it this way; your family migrated for a reason.

this is really great.

My advice to the original poster: skip winter at all: best in May, June, July, and best the centre and south

I would also advise to take the intense irrational reality you'll find as the best part of your trip: spend a lot talking to old ladies (65 and over), since they have no fear to talk openly

you'll be surprised by how conservative are the youngster: it is impressive.

[jdileo]

Appreciate the counsel my friend!

[ananiochita]

Nothing prevents you from doing what Tucci does for a few days -- stay in expensive nice places, find the good and overpriced restaurants, travel to a small village somewhere, and ignore the mess and noise around you. It won't be cheap, and you won't have a cleaning crew prettying up the scene or removing the guy peeing in public in the corner before you walk in, but hey.

I haven't been in the US in a while, but from recent news mentioned even here in HN, if you're visiting Italy from Seattle these days, you'd find the air in Northern Italy ( which is the worst in the EU ) actually an improvement, apparently ?

Same as if you come from San Francisco, looks like Rome or Naples will be safer from that perspective too. Local homeless, trash and litter, ubiquitous rude manners and insane murderous traffic be what they may.

Since you haven't been in Europe, may I also suggest to visit Spain, for actually friendly people and good food not so overpriced as the Italian, certainly not leaving without seeing at least Paris, and maybe look at some fairy tale towns and landscapes in central Europe; Czech Republic, Austria, Slovenia ...

[yuppie_scum]

Did you ever see the episode of The Sopranos where Paulie Walnuts goes to Italy?

[nathanaldensr]

/r/italy is that way -->

[jdileo]

Your point is understood. I submitted to HN because the viewpoints of engineers/founders/builders (aka "my people) was desired.