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
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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
The Wisdom of
Tuscany by Ferenc Maté Mar 13, 2011,
8 comments 1,940
10 Money
Saving Tips for Mediterranean Cruise Port... Oct 22, 2012, 7 comments 1,718
Cool Italian
and Russian gardens and pools Aug 19, 2011,
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.
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.
ReplyDeleteChristina, 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.
ReplyDeleteA lot of people put likes and comments on FB where I announce newly published articles.
Nice post..keep up the good work of posting good stuffs.
ReplyDeleteHello Mary Jane,
ReplyDeleteThank 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
Thanks for this enlightning post. Please keep sharing.
ReplyDelete