From the Telegraph the 20 reasons to return to Italy

(by Ida Bini) (ANSA) - ROME, 05 MAY - The "Telegraph" praises Italy and invites its readers to return to visit the Belpaese as soon as the health emergency is over and it will return to travel abroad. The British newspaper lists 20 reasons why it is good to choose Italian beauties but confesses that there would be many more "Twenty, so few? There would be 20 paintings that would bring me back, 20 restaurants, 20 panoramas, 20 boroughs and 20 other things more. None another country - explains the author of the article Tim Jepson - has many riches and a combination of art, culture, food, wine, fashion, theater, people and landscapes that has no equal and not even such an effective combination of ancient and modern, beautiful and seductive " . We know that England is known to him, yet the beautiful countryside of Chiantishire is only the last reason to visit our country: there are many more reasons and the way you are told is particularly interesting and commendable.
   The first reason to choose Italy are the Italians: "Nonsi cannot love a country without loving its people - explains the author - we know that Italians often see themselves as Tuscan, Sicilian, Venetian or Neapolitan; but they are always the same , with one thing in common: an appreciation for the beautiful things in life. And there are beautiful things in Italy everywhere ".
   In second place are the gardens: from the Venetian villas to the northern lake, from the Tuscan hills to the lemon groves of Sicily.
   The author cites the gardens of Ninfa, south of Rome; the botanical gardens of Hanbury in Ventimiglia, Villa Carlotta on Lake Como, La Mortella on the island of Ischia and the Tarot Garden of Pescia. In third place there are the historic towns and the villages perched on the hills: Tuscany and Umbria host most of them but deserve to be visited also Sulmona in Abruzzo; Enna, Erice and Noto in Sicily; Matera in Basilicata; Tropea in Calabria; Ostuni in Puglia; Ascoli Picenonelle Marche; Ravenna in Emilia-Romagna and Camogli in Liguria.
   "But - underlines the author - the list is much longer". Outdoor places are in fourth place with first class ski destinations such as Alta Badia, Courmayeur and Cervinia, where they can play all kinds of sports. But there are beautiful places in Sicily, Sardinia, the Cinque Terre and on the Amalfi Coast; paragliding in Umbria, rafting in Calabria while in Abruzzo you can follow in the footsteps of wolves.
   The Italian language is the fifth motivation to visit our country because "in Italian everything sounds better". For secular artists and poets they loved our lakes, their magic and beauty is in sixth place in the Telegraph ranking; and not only that of the great lakes Maggiore, Garda and Como but also the quieter ones such as Iseo and Lake Orta. The seventh reason is the opera with its major composers - from Verdi to Rossini, from Puccini to Donizetti - and the two most famous theaters in the world: the Scala in Milan and the Fenice in Venice.
   The author, however, also remembers those of Bologna, Palermo, Treviso, Prato and Ferrara and theatrical festivals, such as that of Puccini or at the arena of Verona, the festival of Macerata and that of Rossini in Pesaro.
   Italian cuisine - in eighth place - is healthy and top-level ingredients; the regional variations are impeccable. The ninth reason to go to Italy is "good drinking": the excellent wine and its traditional producers and innovative ones such as in Sicily, Lombardy (Franciacorta) and Bolgheri on the Tuscan coast. But there are also big cocktails such as Negroni and Bellini, limoncelli, sambucae and grappas of all kinds. Italian coffee is in tenth place: espresso, macchiato and cappuccino are famous all over the world.
   A true cult, therefore, to be discovered in every Italian bar.
   "All countries have mountains, but only Italy has the Dolomites", explains the author of the article "with its dramatic landscapes, rock pinnacles and spectacular massifs". Maci are also Etna, the Alps and the Apennines, wild and beautiful.
   The Telegraph list goes on with fashion in 12th place, architecture and its different styles in 13th and Venice cheda alone, in 14th place, deserves a trip to Italy. Then the list continues with the beauty of the islands: Capri, Tremiti, Ponza, Capraia, Elba, Lipari and Marettimo. The coasts also have a place in the ranking: at the sixteenth there are Amalfi and the Cinque Terre, among the best known, but also the peninsulas of the Gargano and Salento with their turquoise sea, and the wild heroic Cilento with Acciaroli, Agropoli and Santa Maria in Castellabate .
   The incredible number of art galleries are the 17th reason to visit Italy: from the Uffizi in Florence to Brera and Vatican aimusei; but also the gallery of Perugia and that of Palermo, the Accademia Carrara of Bergamo, Palazzo Ducale in Urbino and the civic museum of Vicenza. The list, in fact, is much longer and richer. The artistic places are in 18th place: the Sistine Chapel and the Last Supper, but also the Basilica of Assis with the frescoes by Giotto, Cimabue and Simone Martini; the cathedral of Orvieto and the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua.
   The penultimate reason to travel to Italy concerns treasures: Rome, first of all, but also Aosta, Spoleto, Verona and a very long list of places where ancient history shines.
   Finally the beloved Tuscany. But the recognition of our beauty is already sufficiently satisfied by the praise of the foreign press. We are left with the task of hosting as once. Or maybe even better. (HANDLE).