Se vuoi essere migliore di noi, caro amico, viaggia.
Johann Wolfgang Goethe , Epigrammi , 1796
Probabilmente è più un mio limite che un pregio...ma non posso nasconderlo: sono malato di esterofilia.
Sin dal primo giorno in cui ho messo piede fuori dall'Italia il corto circuito scattato nella mia mente è sempre stato lo stesso: ho sempre avuto un occhio di riguardo e una particolare ammirazione per quello che all'estero si fa meglio di quanto non succeda dalle mie parti.
Senza voler ricordare tutti i miei viaggi previously reported only a couple of spots in the last two, both in the Iberian land.
Last year I went back to Barcelona with the family (there had already been with friends in the period before marriage).
I found a city in turmoil (yards everywhere), liveable, accessible, welcoming and warm.
Omitting the immense cultural heritage designer Gaudi and his desire to leave a trail to the aftermath of the times that I am, I was impressed one episode:
in downtime at the hotel I watched a little TV and, just to give you an example, in the early evening I ran into the opening service of a national TV newscasts: "How and when use the abortion pill "with a doctor and psychologist to interview you spend ten minutes, and service and find myself in the same news a study of the Camino de Santiago crowds of pilgrims and devotees on the march.
All-treated balance and respect for different views: unbiased and journalistically perfect.
This year, I was at Valencia (Ryanair Thank you for the kind that gives opportunities given the cost).
I found a city less attractive from the point of view Art of Barcelona, \u200b\u200ba city center less rich but no less important than many cities our own, but definitely a city open to the challenge of tourism, public transport exceptional extensive and efficient subway, a clean city and growing with the same vision of the future of the largest and most popular Barcelona: the project of City of Arts and Science is, yes, a tribute Valencian architect Calatrava but also and above all an investment in the future of this city that thanks to 'America's Cup discovered a vocation for tourism.
close look at it is stunning to the care of the planning, ordering and managing buildings in the neighborhoods, the green areas throughout the city and the perception that there is a clean city and not congested with traffic.
E 'beyond doubt that the "metro" (Or public transport) is the key factor: "convince" a citizen to go and live in a suburban area guaranteeing the easy accessibility of places of interest is certainly easier.
This gives dignity to the entire city to the suburbs and breath allowing excellent and functional urban planning.
Here, then, I touch the soul "bigoted" in Spain and found that, once a year and in the days of my trip, thousands of people line up to kiss the hand of the statue of the Virgin (some sleeping in the streets the night before to be first in the morning, a queue mileage) fully conjugated and respected by a secular government and leftist Zapatero branded, and not think there are trains, and accentuated external influences or particular animosity toward public television and as with us.
I was also impressed by the dialectic here and the coexistence of different views. Maturity.
And to think that the stereotype in my mind of Spain was a poor country, a slave of post Franco, bigoted and back from the locomotive of Europe politically, culturally and economically
: a stereotype destroyed by the evidence of the facts.
The only consideration I can do, so the difference is that, probably due to a lower rate of corruption, Spaniards were able to make better use of the "flying €" and funding phase "Objective 1" of what we did the Italians.
The result, in the eyes of an ordinary mortal like me, is that Spain is a country that can meet the challenge of modernization, which have been able to "turn", to improve and provide vision for the future their children despite strong local pressure, domestic terrorist and separatist (who are not negligible, and even violent).
deliberately omit the other typical features, sports, wine and lifestyle found ...
I do to protect my health.
If I get mixed up in accounts of bullfighting, Engagement calcisitche of idioms and inflections, of aesthetic judgments and singer company would risk a sharp increase in the rate of "nostalgia" and violate the therapy to get over my illness inescapable: the xenophilia (I know that my "death" will be the Travel in Scandinavia).
This blog deserves a greater space for each journey made so far: I speak of the USA, Paris, London, Prague, Switzerland, the Caribbean, Ireland, Croatia and so on ... but I miss the time ... but before or later ... restart '!
