A memorandum for obstinate travelers in Tuscia. This land is on the hills between Rome and Siena, on the boundary between Lazio and Tuscany, precisely in the Viterbo province, around the Bolsena and the Vico Lake . It includes areas of naturalistic interest, archaelogical Etruscan sites and manyl medieval villages.
1. HOLES ON ASPHALT
Dear traveler: you will find large, small, gigantic ones. When it rains, they fill with water and you do not see them. The children, from us, play to guess the shape of the holes, not that one of the clouds! When asked why these areas, although beautiful, are not very popular, the answer is clear. The problem is infrastructural. In spite of this, I have never seen a commitment, at any administrative level, aimed at fill these fu***ng holes. Meanwhile, the Cassia street (the Francigena path!) is now a trap, and there are stretches of road dusty and dangerous for walkers.
2. HOLES ON ASPHALT
3. HOLES ON ASPHALT
4. HOLES ON ASPHALT
5. HOLES ON ASPHALT
6. HOLES ON ASPHALT, BEHIND THE CORNERS
7. THE EXTREME DIFFIDENCE OF PEOPLE
6. HOLES ON ASPHALT, BEHIND THE CORNERS
7. THE EXTREME DIFFIDENCE OF PEOPLE
Residents, as soon as they see a tourist, look at him with a mixture of real blame and mockery. It become not clear how another person can find the village beautiful. Etruscan finds? Stones! Pristine nature? Only weed that nobody cuts! While they living inside, take for granted the beauty that surrounds them, they can not see it. The inhabitants can not understand how much a stranger can appreciate the clean air, the absence of haste, the well-preserved historical centers. The medieval lanes, fortresses and Renaissance churches.
For this distrust we must also thank a certain papal legacy, prior to the Unification of Italy, which identified the tourist with a libertine sinner. In 1800, hosting an european tourist of the Grand Tour, was considered impious and scandalous, by pontifical law. On the contrary, in Tuscany, the Grand Dukes of Lorraine even instituted a ministry of tourism! Here in Lazio you were welcomed by brigands, who robbed you with their guns, at most.
8. THE EXCESSIVE FAMILIARITY OF PEOPLE
However, after having broken the ice, maybe thanks to a simple indication requested by the tourist (where is the bar?)... The old man competes to advise the tourist the best dairy, winery, restaurant, beach, Spa, dance hall, shop, stables, festival ... The old man asks information about the origin and the family of tourists. If the tourist is from Milan, he asks if by chance he knows his relatives, who emigrated to Milan in 1904. If the tourist is a foreigner, Americano let us say, he certainly saved an American soldier during the Second World War. Jim, do you know him? The old man tells his whole life, shows his farm tools, maybe he delights in some art - such as the carving of objects in the olive wood - and the tourist's question "are for sale?" he is offended and says no. So he donates.
In the end he goes to the chicken coop and brings him two fresh eggs!
For this distrust we must also thank a certain papal legacy, prior to the Unification of Italy, which identified the tourist with a libertine sinner. In 1800, hosting an european tourist of the Grand Tour, was considered impious and scandalous, by pontifical law. On the contrary, in Tuscany, the Grand Dukes of Lorraine even instituted a ministry of tourism! Here in Lazio you were welcomed by brigands, who robbed you with their guns, at most.
8. THE EXCESSIVE FAMILIARITY OF PEOPLE
However, after having broken the ice, maybe thanks to a simple indication requested by the tourist (where is the bar?)... The old man competes to advise the tourist the best dairy, winery, restaurant, beach, Spa, dance hall, shop, stables, festival ... The old man asks information about the origin and the family of tourists. If the tourist is from Milan, he asks if by chance he knows his relatives, who emigrated to Milan in 1904. If the tourist is a foreigner, Americano let us say, he certainly saved an American soldier during the Second World War. Jim, do you know him? The old man tells his whole life, shows his farm tools, maybe he delights in some art - such as the carving of objects in the olive wood - and the tourist's question "are for sale?" he is offended and says no. So he donates.
In the end he goes to the chicken coop and brings him two fresh eggs!
9. THE ABSENCE OF SERVICES
If you think you find a public bathroom, you will stay deluded.
If you think you can find a restaurant open for Christmas, for Easter, for New Year's, for Ferragosto ... You're in the wrong place! There's no reason to keep open, because we're all having lunch at home in those days! Even restaurateurs and baristas have the right to family and holidays. You tourists are only a handful, a dozen a month maximum. Remember to always bring a packed lunch! The grocery stores and all the shops, in general, are closing down, killed by local taxes and by our preference to buy things on Amazon. Those that you find open, but not on Sundays, are the "indispensable" shops and have saved their quality ... then you can find oil, cold cuts and exceptional bread.
If you think you find a public bathroom, you will stay deluded.
If you think you can find a restaurant open for Christmas, for Easter, for New Year's, for Ferragosto ... You're in the wrong place! There's no reason to keep open, because we're all having lunch at home in those days! Even restaurateurs and baristas have the right to family and holidays. You tourists are only a handful, a dozen a month maximum. Remember to always bring a packed lunch! The grocery stores and all the shops, in general, are closing down, killed by local taxes and by our preference to buy things on Amazon. Those that you find open, but not on Sundays, are the "indispensable" shops and have saved their quality ... then you can find oil, cold cuts and exceptional bread.
10. MUSEUMS CLOSED DURING THE WEEK
Would you like to visit a museum? You're lucky, because every small town has one, and entry costs only few euros! But you are also unlucky, poor traveler, because almost all the Municipalities have no more resources to manage these museums. There is no money for cleaning, to pay the staff, for ordinary maintenance (imagine the extraordinary one!). It's all about volunteer work. So, if you need a guided tour, a bookshop for some souvenirs, or an elevator, please think about another place to visit!
Would you like to visit a museum? You're lucky, because every small town has one, and entry costs only few euros! But you are also unlucky, poor traveler, because almost all the Municipalities have no more resources to manage these museums. There is no money for cleaning, to pay the staff, for ordinary maintenance (imagine the extraordinary one!). It's all about volunteer work. So, if you need a guided tour, a bookshop for some souvenirs, or an elevator, please think about another place to visit!
Remember that you, tourists, are only a handful, you are a small minority of brave adventurers who rarely chose to come here. Indeed, more likely, here you have arrived by chance.
So, please, accept these peculiarities, forgive us and look at us as you do with ugly ducklings. Tenderly. Consider that, with some time, we could emerge thanks to a change. Or, even better, you can read this our unpreparedness as a treasure, something that distinguishes us from the mass tourism and makes us innocent. Victims of policies that have sunk us, impoverished, denatured, and deprive us of prospects. We are the campaign that lost against the city.
We are the rough and stubborn stone that does not want to be polished. Alas, we can not all be swans like Bagnoregio city. We are sustainable. We are really slow. We are heroes and if, after the curves, the holes on the asphalt behind the curves, the closed shutters, you managed to see the beauty, and you were moved in the words of the old man, for sure you will be an hero too! ❤
Marianna
So, please, accept these peculiarities, forgive us and look at us as you do with ugly ducklings. Tenderly. Consider that, with some time, we could emerge thanks to a change. Or, even better, you can read this our unpreparedness as a treasure, something that distinguishes us from the mass tourism and makes us innocent. Victims of policies that have sunk us, impoverished, denatured, and deprive us of prospects. We are the campaign that lost against the city.
We are the rough and stubborn stone that does not want to be polished. Alas, we can not all be swans like Bagnoregio city. We are sustainable. We are really slow. We are heroes and if, after the curves, the holes on the asphalt behind the curves, the closed shutters, you managed to see the beauty, and you were moved in the words of the old man, for sure you will be an hero too! ❤
Marianna
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