About

About Me and the Blog

Do yourself a favour and quit this blog. Do it if, in front of the dilemma between red and blue pill, you would go for the “safe” option.

In the Italophile community the blue pill is “Italy”, a dream world that makes the inexperienced tourists live in a confined comfort and in a blissful ignorance. In the words of Beppe Severgnini, it would be “a soft drug peddled in predictable packages  such as olive groves, lemon trees and raven-haired girls”.

“Italia”, on the other hand, is the world you can access through the red pill: the real deal – harsher, difficult, but where you can live authentically the whole spectrum of human emotions and truly feel part of the local community.

Nothing wrong if you just want to relax and enjoy your holiday on the beach sipping your Aperol Spritz of course, but, trust me, you would miss a unique opportunity.

I’m Sara, I’m a tourism operator and Italian cultural blogger and what I will do in this blog is opening for you a window on the “Italy of the Italians”, digging deeper on the cultural aspects, our day-to-day life and the country’s complexities, all parts which are often omitted from the narrative used to market Italy as a tourist destination.

My long-time readers already know what to expect from me: the perspective of the local on many different topics and the debunking of popular myths about the Belpaese. Have you ever heard, for example, about the truth behind the Italian cappuccino and the alleged 11am rule? Or have you ever wondered about the stereotypes that most annoy Italians?

Are you also interested in discovering Italian itineraries and tourism attractions? You can find content about that as well: my passion for travel, my studies focused on tourism and my work experience as a travel agent and in the customer care of hotels located in touristic areas, surely expanded my knowledge on the matter. Check both my cultural and natural itineraries. Also, don’t forget to take a look at my off-the-beaten-path suggestions if you want to avoid the masses and experience the simple Italian life.

If you want to get to know me better, you can check this post focused on my personal connection with Italy and the “about me” articles. Let’s keep in touch on Instagram – Twitter – Pinterest – Tumblr. For emails, go to my contact page.

So, what do you say? Will you take the blue pill and quit this blog or take the red one seeing how deep the rabbit hole goes?

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