hot topics
INCENTIVE COMMENT
Variety is the spice Italy caput mundi (capital of the world): in Italy, you can discover or rediscover wonders similar to those of (almost) every country in the world. Here are 16 examples
E
LUCA CORSI Sponsorship & events manager Folletto Division of Vorwerk Italia luca.corsi@folletto.it
very year, the New York Times publishes a short list of the best places to visit worldwide, often choosing destinations that are unconventional, underestimated and often off the beaten tourist track, but are comparable to the so-called “dream destinations” that we know so well. This year the contributors of the NY Times have included three Italian destinations in the “52 places to go in 2020”. These are the marvelous city of Urbino in the Marches, Sicily, and the tiny gem of Molise, the smallest region in the “Belpaese” (the beautiful country) after the Aosta Valley. We are grateful to this publication for listing Urbino next to Tokyo, and Molise with the Bahamas. If you’ve been dreaming about castles in Scotland, the sea of the Maldives, the dunes of the Sahara, geysers, fjords, or the Zen gardens in Japan, then you will know without a doubt what to choose for your next event: come to Italy for all these and more. Below, I’ve listed 16 corners of the world that can also be found right here, in Italy. These are places that are often even
more unique and picturesque than their foreign counterparts. 1 If you want to visit a castle that is as Scottish as you can get, head to Rocca Calascio in Abruzzo, where you’ll find a marvelous fortress whose medieval charm is so reminiscent of those castles found in Glasgow and Edinburgh that Hollywood chose it as the set for the film Lady Hawke. 2 In the province of Siena, the abbey of San Galgano hosts a relic that seems to have come out of the Arthurian romance by Chrétien de Troyes: a sword in a stone. No, it’s not King Arthur’s legendary Excalibur (whose existence and whereabouts continue to be a mystery), but one that has the same characteristics, and which, according to legend, was plunged into a stone by St. Galgano, when he converted to Christianity, and represents the symbol of the cross. 3 The travel time between castles and exotic beaches in Italy is minimal. The
beaches of Sardinia from Villasimius to Cala Coticcio, and from Caprera to the Maddalena, all have the same breathtaking colours and white sand as the Maldives, the Seychelles and the Caribbean. 4 While in Sardinia, you can leave the sea behind you and head to the “desert”, where the dunes of Piscinas offer a similar view of a sunset that you might see in the Sahara. 5 Let’s move on to Piedmont, near Verbania in Val d’Ossola, where the Uriezzo Gorges are hewn from the rocks almost like the Grand Canyon, and the red canyons of Antelope. 6 Another compelling sight is the Furore fjord near Salerno in Campania, which offers visitors an “inimitably” Norwegian landscape. 7 Alternatively, Lake Carezza, located just a few kilometres from Bolzano (Alto Adige), treats visitors to spectacular, typically Canadian scenery, with a backdrop of mountains reflected in the lake’s crystalclear waters.
16 | 01 2020 | MC
016-017 Incentive Comment Corsi.indd 16
18/02/20 10:51