Alexander is a travel consultant who lives in Italy. He has created a 20 point guide (for those of you who love lists!) about Italy - its quirks, culture, and pizzaz!

Uncovering Italy

And as he has noted:"Be careful of the stereotypes! Whilst you can always draw a thread (or even a rope) of similarity (as above) between the nationals of a country, the extent and size of the thread can vary!"

Alex sent us a couple of updates to this piece so I've included them. I remember having the discussion on the hotel rating system before and he gives a decent insight - it would be cool though to break it all down into what each star means in Italy (as opposed to the US).

Please note that "Nationalism" is being loyal to a nation. Italian are not nationalist - they are always complaing about Italy, not without reason - they are campanilist. A campanile is a bell tower and Italians are loyal to the place around their own bell tower.

quote:

Alex sent us a couple of updates to this piece so I've included them. I remember having the discussion on the hotel rating system before and he gives a decent insight - it would be cool though to break it all down into what each star means in Italy (as opposed to the US).

http://tinyurl.com/mllwxz

Note that there is little to describe the "quality" of the hotel--service, ambiance, furniture, bathrooms etc. Perhaps the decree has more comprehensive information about quality standards. But, I doubt it. The star system in the decree with probably just list which amenities will earn how many stars. Amenities such as an elevator, conference centers, etc. So star ratings mean little when looking for a hotel or describing a hotel using its star rating.

Peter

itarchivarius
I recently finished a video history course called
"Italians Before There was an Italy." The professor described campanilismo as follows: "What is most important to Italians happens in the area within sight of the bell tower of their church." Note that it is not the sound, but the sight...as sound carries for miles but, generally speaking this is only a couple of hunder yards at best-the cantrada(except for the "modern" Renaissance practice of building churches outside the city-example Todi, Prato, and Montepulciano). Even small places like Montepulciano have at least eight cantrade and as many churches, each cantrada boundary defined by the change in flags hanging from the buildings.While some of the significance of thse might be thought to blur with the centuries, activities like the Siena Palio prove its continuing reaffirmation. At the next level up (the citta) it also reverberates-just listen to the shouts of "Montaperti" from Sienese calcio fans at a match with Firenze.