Destinations and stereotypes

The world of travelers is full of false myths and stereotypes. Most of them are the shared ideas of the several destinations, often fed by touristic guides and publicity.

By the way, a lot of travelers  may notice that some of the common sentences said about the most famous destinations are all but true, or are not correct anymore.

Let’s make some example.

London is always rainy

sunny london London is often rainy, but the local spring and summer are mild, and autumn is quite mild too.  This stereotype is mainly based on our habit to travel in August-September, summer holiday period but also very rainy period in Northern Europe.
London May and June (until mid July) can be very sunny and hot. The rest of the year is as rainy as in many other cities in the Northern Hemisphere.

Paris is romantic

dirty paris

Personally I don’t agree with this statement.
To make a place romantic, a lighty tower is not enough to me. I need a clean and accessible city, I need the chance to feel home. These are characteristic that Paris often misses, unfortunately.
It is beautiful, it is smart, it is full of culture and history. But it’s not romantic.
Do you really want to visit a romantic city? Go to Prague!

Chinese food hygiene is poor

chinese food - sabrinabarbante.com
This stereotype probably comes from the quality of so many Chinese restaurants all over the world. But if you valued the quality of the Italian and French cuisine looking into many of the local restaurants, you probably wouldn’t be longing to come to Italy and France anymore.
Actually Chinese people are much more concerned about food quality than 90% of European countries. They’re so into food and give it a big value and social importance.

Amsterdam is… Sex and drug!

beautiful amsterdam
I enjoyed Amsterdam so much even though I refused to visit the red light district (useless for my personal knowledge and unable to generate any curiosity in me) and I have never smoked.
The truth is Amsterdam is one of the most romantic and suggestive European cities, much more than Venice in my personal opinion.

South Italy is dangerous 

lago di nemiActually I think South Italy is one of the safest place in the world, also and mainly for solo travelers.
I can say this because  locals are very interested in understanding and being understood, the communication is very easy even in case of low vehicular language knowledge. So in any case of need you’ll be granted help and assistance.

Rome is the Eternal city

images-1As an Italian, I’m so sad to tell you that’s not the truth.

I wish it was, but…
But to be eternal in beauty, civilization, grandeur, a place must be cared, protected by policy and by people. In the last years the amazing Rome was all but but protected. It risks to become irremediably decadent, the capital of the new Mafia.
If it’s true that Rome wasn’t built in a day, we must also say that it’s not in just one day that Rome will be destroyed, so maybe something can still be done to make of Rome the jewel it was once.

To save it, we can’t be blind and just admire the photography made in Sorrentino’s ‘La Grande Bellezza’.
To save it, Italian people and politicians must understand that Rome is not eternal by divine right at all. Eternity must be deserved and fought for.

Berlin is not beautiful, it’s ‘cold’ and expensive

berlino
You  know what? Berlin is one of the most stereotyped cities in the world!
The history who dramatically crossed this city make it so nice, crepuscular, so vulnerable and sweet that you’ll feel amazed!
In some areas of the city (mainly the Est part of the post war division) they rent studios and apartments for very very low rates so that many young artists (mainly designers and artisans) from all over Europe decided to open their studio there and settle down. So, the city is presently very young and creative and accessibile for young people.

Come on, tell me some other stereotypes about your city or a place you’ve visited you want to break!

 

3 Comments

  • Maira Nurkhabayeva

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    Quall’ora è interessata mi contatti.

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