3119 The First Time

The first time I saw Italy, was on tele as a young child I watched a film and in this film was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen, her name was Sophia Loren, years later they showed the film of her life, and she played the part of her mother, I was captivated by the streets of Rome and Naples in those times, have not been to Rome yet!!! but I have been to Naples and when I walked out on to the balcony of our room over looking the bay, I thought I was in heaven and I could not help but think Sophia you are still the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, and yes your country is the most beautiful country I have ever seen too......A memory I will never forget:)

Category

General chat about Italy

That was lovely, agree with you ref. Sophia too...
Thanks Frantiani :)

I remember seeing Sophia on So Graham Norton a couple of years back and thinking how absolutely beautiful she still was, even in her 70s. God knows what she thought of Mr Norton!

[QUOTE=Peter Head]I remember seeing Sophia on So Graham Norton a couple of years back and thinking how absolutely beautiful she still was, even in her 70s. God knows what she thought of Mr Norton![/QUOTE]

I remember that one too. Was a very good programme. She seemed to see the funny side too... ;)

Definitely one of the most amazing women in the film industry... especially compared to the new young, shallow and utterly character-less breed of actresses!

[QUOTE=Iona]I remember that one too. Was a very good programme. She seemed to see the funny side too... ;)

Definitely one of the most amazing women in the film industry... especially compared to the new young, shallow and utterly character-less breed of actresses![/QUOTE]

Amen to that!

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When I was young, I saw a very silly film called 'Buona Sera, Mrs Campbell'. Since then, Gina Lollobrigida has always been the gal for me....! :)

[URL="http://www.imdb.com/gallery/mptv/1206/Mptv/1206/0041_2019.jpg?path=pgallery&path_key=Lollobrigida,%20Gina"]http://www.imdb.com/gallery/mptv/1206/Mptv/1206/0041_2019.jpg?path=pgallery&path_key=Lollobrigida,%20Gina[/URL]

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well if we are talking Italian beauties how about Monica Bellucci especially in Malena

Whilst I think you gentleman have excellent taste in woman!!!! I believe it would be even more intresting for you to tell us what was your first time of seeing Italy, what your thoughts were, when you fell in love with her,:) Francesca

[QUOTE=FRANTIANI]Whilst I think you gentleman have excellent taste in woman!!!! I believe it would be even more intresting for you to tell us what was your first time of seeing Italy, what your thoughts were, when you fell in love with her,:) Francesca[/QUOTE]

Easy, Francesca

it was September 1990 and Maggie and I spent 2 weeks at Cadenabbia, Lake Como. The hotel - I cannot remember what it was called now, only that for years it was advertised in the b rochures with a picture of a speedboat ploughing by - could best be described as faded grandeur. That I came to apppreciate was how many buildings are, and yet there are still so many ancient buildings that still take your breath away.

On that holiday we went to Stresa and Isola Bella, on Maggiore. The gardens on the island have to be seen to be believed. I still have not seen anything else quite like them.

We also went to Milan and, for an outing that took 19 hours, to Venice. I promised myself then that I would return to Venice, and we did so 5 years later.

There were other outings, a lake cruise followed by some wine and liquer tasting at a place in Bellaggio called Toni's. Amazing, it seemed like the shop had been hewn out of the rock.

There was a little bar just up the road from the hotel called the Victoria. It was run by an old gentleman called Aldo and his rather grumpy loooking son, Roberto. Aldo was so nice; he would see us and call over 'Bier vom fass' and I would nod. Just to sit there doing a crossword with the lake lapping underneath was so blissful.

On the middle Saturday, we were having tea and coffee at a trattoria in Tremezzo when there was this blazing cacophany of car horns and sirens. A whole stream of cars came zipping past, being driven in a way that only Italians seem to have perfected, and in one of them was very obviously a newly wed couple. Fantastic! A great occasion for the couple so let's really celebrate!!

I fell in love with the Italian way of life on that holiday. At the time it was so different to the way we lived our lives in the UK. However, I sense that is changing, in no little way because so many of us have been to Italy, or Spain, Greece, Portugal, even beautiful Austria, and we want a similar experience at home. It can not be the same (I nearly put never, but that would not be true), but at least I do believe we are moving in the right direction.

I was absolutely staggered by all the antiquity that there was - and by the Gothic cathedral in Milan (and how close God and Mammon are with the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II not more than 30 yards away - or so my memory tells me. We are talking 15 and a half years ago!

It was a great holiday, and I fell totally under Italy's spell. Even though I can never go there again, I remain a complete italophile and take so much pleasure from trying to learn the beautiful language.

Maggie and I have had 7 holidays in Italy and all have been special, for differing reasons. But there have been constants: the food, the wine, the culture, the art (even in the smallest village church), the architecture, and most importantly the people. So many wonderful memories, for which I thank God.

OK Francesca you're right. i thought someone wd tell me off-only joking

My first contact with Italy was many years ago when I went to Perugia University for Foreigners.It was a fantastic melting pot of all nationalities.I loved the thick chocolate in the cafes,playing briscola and talking to the Italian students in the pensione where I lived,the passegiatas at 6.00,the relaxed casual lifestyle,eating the delicious squares of pizza at 500 lire while walking down to the university,hitching around the Umbrian countryside,buying the salad and affettatas and cooking and eating them an hour later,the physical warmth and openness of the Italians,the idea that men could walk up and down arm in arm without being thought odd,watching crowds of young Italians clustered around a Lamborghini at the side of the road. . Another thing I loved were the eclairs which I think were called bigne's (that's meant to be an acute accent,French word).Haven't seen them since.That was 36 years ago.Things have changed since then I guess.

I saw real Italy (as against filmed) when a train, on which we had travelled from England arrived in Milan. The plan was to get off, look at Milan (and meet my brother who was working there), then go on to Verona followed by Bologna.

It was raining in Milan, so we negotiated a ticket to Bologna, and took Verona in on the return leg!! The best laid plans are often stymied by the weather..........really loved Verona, liked Bologna quite a lot, not desperately keen on Milan apart from the Sforza gallery.

There you go. As a film set, Bagni Vignoni made a prety good backdrop - but can't quite remember the title of the film - help anyone?

What wonderful memories Italy has given us all of our first time, I really have enjoyed each post and pictured your journeys whilst reading them, Bravo :) Francesca

[LEFT][quote=FRANTIANI]Whilst I think you gentleman have excellent taste in woman!!!! I believe it would be even more intresting for you to tell us what was your first time of seeing Italy, what your thoughts were, when you fell in love with her,:) Francesca[/quote]

Ok, so Gina Lollobrigida wasn't enough eh? :)
My wife and I first visited Italy together 16 years ago - a June week in Rome, sleeping on the floor of a friend's tiny apartment 3 or 4 miles from the city centre. Strangely, and because of this, I clearly remember my first reaction was how wonderful the public transport system was!! :)

We did all the normal, tourist locations during the days and all the main sights stood out in their own particular way [the awesome sense of history among the ruins and the vatican were obvious highlights], but it was the evenings in Rome we remember most. Our friend, a native, took us to the most wonderful restaurants; hidden away restaurants full of Italians, simply delicious and barely a tourist in sight - I always remember feeling a little smug when we later walked past the busy touristy restaurants.
After dinner, the late unprepared evening walks around the narrow streets and suddenly finding yourself in a huge piazza, the fountains all lit up, an ice-cream or two and people-watching over coffee.
But for both of us, one evening in particular stands out above all... an open air performance of Turandot. Magical!

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Derekl, your week in Rome sounded great ,I have yet to experience the beautiful capital, We have driven all round the outskirts, but because of the time of year being so busy heaving with tourists, we thought best wait for a quieter time, the fact one day not too far off we shall be in Le Marche full time, that will be the time to go, but thank you for your first time in Italy, it was lovely to read :) Francesca