What is your vision of Italy?

[JussiK]

You're obviously right about that huge migration and yes, I could well see us leaving our flat and moving into a gorgeous Parioli district palazzo in Rome. " Oh, ciao Quentin, I thought we saw you walking by last night. Directing the sequel to "Kill Bill" at the Cinecitta already? Is Martin there too right now? Yes? Oh sure, we'd love to drop by for a spaghettata round midnight and discuss The Gangs of New York but you see we... what, Asia will be there as well? In that case count us in" and so on. But would they really pay me well enough to keep us in luxury items forever and I bet the rent would not be cheap in Parioli either...so, I dream on.

[Masdefi]

Jussi, I know what you mean. If somebody tryed the roman lifestyle then has been impressed by the continuous "sometihng to do" from one side to another one all the evenings.
But in order to fully (and I underline fully) appreciate the roman lifestyle you have to:
1. be connected to a right group of people (first of all), I mean have a group of friends with you that you like
2. be living in the city center or almost not too far
3. have a lot of money to spend or at least no problems to go round and round to spend
4. have a nice and profitable job, maybe not too early in the morning or too late in the evening

Jussi, if I'll know something about a new job in Rome :) , I'll let you know.....

[Funky Dude]

I'm not sure what my vision of Italy is as I know very little of the culture except for what I've seen in movies, on tv ads and the photos I've seen in books eg Leaning Tower of Pisa, and I know their accent. I know my mother has some Italian friends and they are very lovely people.

[Masdefi]

Originally Posted by Funky Dude

I'm not sure what my vision of Italy is as I know very little of the culture except for what I've seen in movies, on tv ads and the photos I've seen in books eg Leaning Tower of Pisa, and I know their accent. I know my mother has some Italian friends and they are very lovely people.

Thank you Funky,
If one day you'll come in Italy you'll see how lifestyle is different from movies. I mean, many movies try to establish an italian way that most of the times is not real.

[kelvy]

after all these years, i finally spent over three days in Italy (Rome, Milan, Florence, Venice) and it was a lot like i expected even though the whole country was on vacation when i arrived in august and got to meet again with Massimo and his family who went out of the way to take me to Rome's Metropolis Rock store (very, very good selection of disco and r&b classics -- one odd thing about it is that on the turntables, they don't allow you to preview the albums before you buy them but you can preview 12-inch singles)....fell in love with lambrusco red wine (and so did my parents when i bought a bottle home).....i was impressed with the panini sandwiches (it seems that the quality of food in Italy and also France is better than the States despite the slightly higher prices).....also, just like in most of Europe, people tended to wear clothes that are fitted and not oversized....most of the people i saw in Italy (and this was when again most Italians were on vacation), were dressed well even though it wasn't suit-and-ties for the men as i thought before, the fit of the clothes is superb...

and not much of exotic cars (Ferraris, Lamborghinis), but i has to take pictures of those old Fiat 126s and 600s....they are sooooo cute! and the Alfa Romeo 156s are handsome new cars that are in the same league with BMW's 3-series....and for the first time, i was able to practice what little Italian i know (fell in love with the language and country ever since my high school days)

what also impressed me about Italy besides the antique architecture is the relaxed pace of life they live with mid-afternoon naps yet they prosper....the United States is noted statistically to be the most productive country in the world but we pay for that dearly through increased heart attacks, incessant stress, unhealthy diets, and only a small amount of vacation time (two weeks of vacation a year is considered good and you have to work for it for about a year before you usually get it)...plus the prevailing multitasking, i-need-to-have-it-done-yesterday attitude in the workforce makes most Americans burnt out and on the edge....

one day, i must "ritornar" (return) for a full in-depth vacation and again meet up with my good friend Massimo and his family...Forza Italia!

with well tidings and kind regards,

kelvy

[Masdefi]

Kelvy,
thanks for your nice words about your vacation in Italy... just three days is not enough to appreciate the lifestyle of a nation but I think you've made a quite clear vision of what the current lifestyle is.
But do not forget you were in vacations, the common-all-days life could be a little different, maybe from this point of view let me say that I love US style, for the great organization. :D
I work for a company that has other sub-companies in the US (as you know) and I am each time surprised while I have to compare my way to work with that one of my US collegues.... to each question I ask they have the answer and quickly and there's just one answer! If they do not know they says "Sorry, I do not know".
Italian way is: yes the answer quickly even if I do not know... :roll: ......... but maybe I can change my answer ......maybe....!!! :lol:
This is a latin way..... ciao!
Massimo

[disco1999]

First of all, my perception of italians is that there are nice and generous. 8)
I've never visited italy but was fairly close in 98 as I visited france, spain and portugal for its universal exposition in Lisboa. I expect to drive around there on my next trip to europe.
I've love to visit italy for its warm people, the food, this country is so old, it has to be very impressive to look around. A friend of mine said to stay away from Rome as it's polluted, unclean and hard to drive around. (I have never seen Paris and was in France for 30 days). The italian community is strong in Montreal, like manhattan, we have our little Italy with a wide variety of restaurants and expensive stores. Italians seem to put a lot of importance on their appearance, especially their shoes, it seems like even the homeless are wearing shoes in good condition. Italians have great values amoung their families, weddings are very expensive and it seems unavoidable. They show pride on what they do best like sports cars, expensive clothing.