Quest’articolo spiega come una persona può continuare la dolce vita anche se in quarantena. L’autrice da dei suggerimenti su come possiamo imitare un po' della dolce vita italiana nei nostri giorni. Il primo suggerimento è creare un album delle foto dei tuoi viaggi che hai già fatto in italia. Lei dice che possiamo avere una sensazione di festa. Secondo suggerimento, mettere i tuoi ricordi attorno alla casa per ricordare i bei tempi passati in italia. Questi ricordi possono essere una borsa comprata in italia o anche le tazzine per l’espresso. Quando vedi queste cose, ti porteranno felicità. Il terzo suggerimento è leggere i libri sull'Italia. Lei raccomanda di scegliere libri che hanno un trama centrata sull'Italia, oppure, puoi leggere libri di ricette italiane. Lei suggerisce anche di leggere le poesie italiane, come le opere di Petrarca, o i romanzi antichi come “Il gattopardo”. Quarto suggerimento, lei dice che puoi cucinare i cibi tradizionali o regionali d’italia, suggerisce di cucinare i saltimbocca o il vitello tonnato, non dimenticando di fare un espresso e preparare un tiramisù. Quinto suggerimento, ascolta musica italiana, specialmente l’opera. Questo tipo di musica è un simbolo di una cultura antica. Se non ti piace l’opera, puoi ascoltare la musica di Paolo Conte o Fabrizio de Andrè o  puoi trovare altri cantanti che cantano uno stile che ti piace. L’ultimo suggerimento è fare i programmi per il prossimo viaggio in italia. Fai la ricerca delle città che tu desideri visitare. Lei dice di non far affidamento solo ad internet ma consultare anche i libri. 

Many readers who long to be in Italy will be finding life frustrating with holidays cancelled and no possibility of travel. Me too! I should be there now, back in my second home in the Veneto and enjoying a balmy Italian spring – especially eating lunch outdoors in my favourite Ristorante da Taparo under the extensive gazebo which will currently be dripping with purple wisteria from century-old trees. Instead I am home in the north of England but doing my best to “think Italian” and transport myself there virtually. Here are a few suggestions for you to do the same.

Make a Holiday Journal

Choose and label your best holiday photos. It is amazing how absorbing it can become just looking back over old photographs. Don’t just name a place: add a few memories to make a holiday diary. In a few years, you will enjoy re-reading it when otherwise you’d have forgotten many of the charming details, and the act of creating your journal will transport you to a happier time in Italy.

Display your Souvenirs

Gather together your souvenirs which bring back memories of Italian holidays. You may have framed posters, Murano glass ornaments, vases and jewelry, olive wood kitchen utensils, espresso coffee cups. And what household doesn’t have a collection of digestivi and aperitivi bottles in a cupboard? Display them, put your feet up and enjoy a different one each evening. You may also have clothes, shoes and bags, which were bought in Italy, so wear them because they’ll be linked with happy memories.

Reading

One of the luxuries of lockdown (yes, there are a few!) is having time to enjoy all those books you meant to read but never had the time. Choose Italian books! I’m not saying – unless you are totally fluent – that you should read them in Italian, but there are plenty to choose from in translation. If you have never read the Inspector Montalbano stories by Andrea Camilleri you are in for a treat. The TV series with subtitles gives a very accurate impression of the books but doesn’t dwell quite as much on the Inspector’s devotion to food. He savours every mouthful and the business of crime detection has to stop for lunch. You will be instantly absorbed into Sicilian life.

If you like poetry, try the translated sonnets of Petrarch and you will be pleasantly surprised. Even though they were written in the 14th century, the love poems have an immediacy which is relevant today. For me, they have a special relevance because Petrarch’s house is in the pretty village of Arqua Petrarca very close to where I live.

I think Lampedusa’s “The Leopard” is a book which people either love or hate, but an Italian classic. Now is the time to form your own opinion!

Cook Italian

Have you ever made your own pasta? Do it now that you have time on your hands. Try making Italian classic dishes such as saltimbocca (meaning “leaps in the mouth” which it does, it is so good!) or vitello tonnato – veal escalopes in tuna sauce. Don’t forget to make real espresso coffee and make your home smell of it! And use some of it for home-made tiramisu!

Music

You have a fabulous choice! Italian opera says so much about the country and its people – romantic, dramatic, tragic, colorful, over the top – whenever I hear “La Traviata” I transport myself to a ballroom in a Venetian palazzo and waltz around my house. When I hear Rossini I return in my mind to the summer Rossini festival in Pesaro with all the Italians parading up and down in their finery in the interval.

If you don’t know much about popular Italian music, I recommend Paolo Conte and Fabrizio da Andre. All Italians know their songs. You may not understand all the words, they’re often in dialect, but the music will stay with you.

Plan Your Next Trip

Take some virtual holidays in Italy using travel company links. Give yourself the pleasure of research into an unfamiliar part of Italy and get those forgotten guides and map books out! They are far more informative than snippets on the internet! Consider booking next year’s holiday while prices are still relatively cheap.

Be optimistic! This will end, so give yourself something to look forward to. You have time – use it profitably!