Oggi vi parlo del progetto “Can’t Forget It {aly}“:
Can’t Forget It {aly} is a web format that, over the coming months, will be taking you on a virtual journey through Italy. Our intention is to show what Italy is all about through real-life experiences and real time travel stories with real people, going places, making friends and doing stuff. First hand. So you won’t find any static aerial shots taken from a helicopter, surreal photoshopped sunsets or overpaid film star branding his face alongside the region. We’re taking you back down to earth. Via web.
Dovete sapere che i viaggi organizzati ed i villaggi vacanze li odio.
Odio le persone che vanno sempre tutte negli stessi posti. Odio le spiagge alla moda, i monumenti osannati ed intasati dalle folle, i ristoranti trendy, le mete “IN”. Mi piace ovviamente organizzare le tappe del mio viaggio e a Londra sono andata al Tower Bridge, così come a Parigi a Louvre. Prenoto gli alberghi, anche se possibilmente sconosciuti alle masse. Però lascio che una buona parte del mio viaggio sia affidata al caso, alle idee in cui inciamperò lungo la strada, alla guida delle persone che conoscono e amano i luoghi che visiterò. I viaggi più belli che ho fatto, si sono rivelati tali, grazie a piccole scoperte e non a grandi musei.
Mio fratello è venuto a farmi visita in questi giorni. Ho fatto solo un viaggio con lui da sola, a Barcellona. E mi ha stupito che lui non si ricordasse nè della Sagrada Família, nè di Parc Güell, ma di una piccolo ristorante trovato per caso vicino al mare, dove bevevano sidro in strane ampolle e mangiavano sui davanzali delle finestre. Oppure della partita dei mondiali in piazza con gli italiani che festeggiavano insieme a noi. Sono queste le cose che fanno di un viaggio, un’esperienza. Non certo le foto sotto la Tour Eiffel o al Colosseo.
Ecco perché questo progetto mi è piacuto: non racconta le città più amate dai turisti, come Roma, Venezia o Firenze, ma luoghi che normalmente vengono esclusi dai flussi turistici, regioni ancora da scoprire come la Basilicata e il Friuli Venezia Giulia. Inoltre non si serve di grandi mezzi ed effetti speciali, ma di diari digitali, attrezzature low cost e viaggiatori per passione.
Non risparmiando poi un po’ di polemica per i soldi (inutilmente) spesi dall’industria turistica italiana per promuoversi all’estero, oltretutto con ben miseri risultati:
Cantforget.it{aly} is my answer to Italia.it.
It is (in)tangible proof of what can be done with great ideas, amazing people and lot of passion for what we do. And, clichés aside, that doesn’t mean it has to cost a fortune.
E’ strano perché quando ho aperto questo blog pensavo che avrei parlato della Francia e delle mie nuove esperienze in questo paese.
In realtà, mi rendo conto che qui si parla molto più spesso dell’Italia e degli italiani. E non so se questo dipenda dalla nostalgia di casa, dal fatto che sembra che tutti all’estero amino l’Italia (ok, forse la Merkel non tanto ultimamente) o dal fatto che sia cambiato il mio punto di vista geografico. Non vi preoccupate, quando lo scopro ve lo dico.
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Today we speak of the project “Can’t Forget It {aly}“:
Can’t Forget It {aly} is a web format that, over the coming months, will be taking you on a virtual journey through Italy. Our intention is to show what Italy is all about through real-life experiences and real time travel stories with real people, going places, making friends and doing stuff. First hand. So you won’t find any static aerial shots taken from a helicopter, surreal photoshopped sunsets or overpaid film star branding his face alongside the region. We’re taking you back down to earth. Via web.
You should know that I hate organized tours and tourist villages.
I hate people who always go all in the same locations. I hate fashionable beaches, monuments acclaimed and clogged by the crowds, trendy restaurants, “IN” destinations. Obviously I like to organize the steps of my journey and when I was in London, I went to Tower Bridge, as well as the Louvre in Paris. I book the hotels, although possibly unknown to the masses. But I let that a big part of my journey is random, to the ideas that stumble along the way, to guide of people who know and love the places that I will visit. The most beautiful trips I’ve made, are so, thanks to small discoveries and not to large museums.
My brother came to visit me during these days. I only did a trip with him alone, in Barcelona. And he surprised me: he did not remember either of the Sagrada Familia, nor Parc Güell, but a little restaurant found near the sea by chance, where people drank cider with strange ampoules and ate on the windowsills. Or the match of the World Cup, in the square with the Italians celebrating with us the victory. These are the things that make a journey, an experience. Certainly not the photos under the Eiffel Tower or the Colosseum.
That’s why I’ve liked this project: does not explore the most famous tourist cities, like Rome, Venice or Florence, but places that are normally excluded from tourist flows, undiscovered regions like Basilicata and Friuli Venezia Giulia. It also does not need large resources and special effects, but uses digital diaries, low equipment cost and travelers for passion.
And doesn’t save a little controversy for the money (unsuccessfully) spent by the Italian tourism industry to promote itself abroad, moreover, with very poor results:
Cantforget.it{aly} is my answer to Italia.it.
It is (in)tangible proof of what can be done with great ideas, amazing people and lot of passion for what we do. And, clichés aside, that doesn’t mean it has to cost a fortune.
It ‘s weird because when I started this blog I thought I would talk of France and of my new experiences in this country.
Actually, I realize that here we talk more often of Italy and Italians. And I do not know whether this is for the homesick, by the fact that everyone seems to love it outside Italy (ok, maybe Merkel not so much lately) or whether it has changed my geographical point of view. Do not worry, when I discover I will tell you for sure.
