Thursday, January 15, 2015

Top Five Stories about Central Italy

                                  
Today I was interviewed  again  at  Viterbo’s local radio station   Radio Verde,  this time by station owner and manager  Gioia  Capulli  and poetess Lorena Paris. 
at Radio Verde studios 

 One of the first things they wanted to know was the motivation for a  person from another country  to write  about and promote the Etruria Tuscia area. To  answer  I quoted  the motto  of Rome’s  Welcome Neighbor club  founded about 30 years ago by Yolanda Bernardini: “ bloom where you are planted”. 

 Welcome Neighbor  is  still very active in the  Olgiata  area of Rome thanks  to the  volcanic Paula Treu.
in the olive groves of Vetralla

The main  stimulus for writing about and  promoting Northern Lazio's Viterbo/Tuscia area was the  realization that  very little  information about the area  existed in English and  there was a total lack of communication and touristic promotion.  
 Here is how I explained it in the  introduction of my book Etruria Travel. 

This massive  void called out to be filled and as journalist and researcher transplanted to the province I  knew I had found  my niche : after the many  years writing about  Rome and Moscow now  it was to be Tuscia/Etruria.  

Within a few years the void was filling up fast with an award winning website  now in  its  15th year, hundreds of articles  were written and published  http://www.elegantetruria.com/bibliography   as well as several books. http://www.elegantetruria.com/books.

Not bad for a one-woman company.

The weekly blog http://50yearsinitaly.blogspot.it   begun  in February 2011 now has 170  posts of which only  three were contributed  by carefully selected guest blogger friends.  

 The  blog’s mission is to  highlight  itineraries, travel  tips and happenings in the central Italy area  especially Viterbo and the many lovely surrounding towns but when I began traveling  on luxury cruise ships as guest lecturer  I was able to add many other interesting themes. 


Since its birth four years ago, 50yearsinItaly  has received 185,435 page views with about 50%  of these  coming from USA and Canada. 

The top five stories are listed here with links  just in case you missed them. 

Subscribers never miss a post for they are automatically advised when a new one is published. You can sign up  at the bottom of the page by leaving your email. 


Top Five Stories  Feb. 2011- Feb. 2015


Top Ten Italian Beaches     Jan 11, 2012, 24 comments   14,421 views
Fellini's Dolce Vita Castle  Aug 22, 2012, 14 comments    4,022 views
 8 comments   1,940
10 Money Saving Tips for Mediterranean Cruise Port...  Oct 22, 2012, 7 comments      1,718
 7 comments       1,480

I’d be very interested to know which stories you liked and learned something from. 
You can still make a  comment on the stories you like best. It’s the comments that make this labor of love worthwhile.

    

5 comments:

  1. It is strange you don't have many comments on your blog Mary Jane maybe because it is more like a website than a blog? My blog is more part of a gardening group where we become friends and comment and help each other.

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  2. Christina, thanks for the comment.. I am not able to put any on your lovely blog about gardens , and i guess most of my Italian readers are confused by the "how To " of comments.
    A lot of people put likes and comments on FB where I announce newly published articles.

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  3. Nice post..keep up the good work of posting good stuffs.

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  4. Hello Mary Jane,
    Thank you for mentioning me, Welcome Neighbor, and the quote behind it all. It's a nice feeling to know that it is still remembered and passed on.

    Congratulations on all your accomplishments. You have much to be proud. Your personal travel while in Italy all these years has taken you far. Buon proseguimento!
    (I did try to leave a comment on your blog but was sent all over the google map. At least this way you do receive my best wishes and thanks.)

    Warmly,
    yolanda

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  5. Thanks for this enlightning post. Please keep sharing.

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