01 Nov Ana who loves traveling

I met Ana 10 years ago, and of course, traveling. She is a wonderful woman, wanting to know everything.

Very passionate about traveling and a lover of Italy, she has traveled up and down across the country. But it’s better if she tells us about it.

When did you go to Italy for the first time and what did you like about it?

The first time I went to Italy was in 1980 and I have to confess that it was quite an adventure since the internet didn’t exist yet and I traveled with my friends on an interrail for a month visiting Venice, Rome, Siena, Pisa and Florence. This trip was very special for me, because the fascination I feel for Italy started during that trip.

What have you visited since then? 

Since that distant trip in 1980 I have returned to Italy about 11 or 12 times, traveling around Tuscany several times. I have traveled through Campania, Sicily and Lombardy. 

What do you like best? 

If I had to decide, I would list several places that fascinate me: Lucca, San Gimignano, Taormina, Procida, the Amalfi Coast, the Aeolian Islands, Bergamo, Pompeii, Lake Como and Sirmione.

And what less?

I have to say that in the last few trips perhaps what I liked the least was the over-exploitation of the best known places such as Florence, Pisa and Rome since everything is very expensive and very focused on tourism, and then it loses its authenticity. But on the contrary, anywhere in Italy, the way people treated me was fantastic, perhaps because of how similar we are.

Something that impressed me a lot when we met in Palermo was when you told me that it reminded you a lot of the Barcelona of your childhood.

Could you explain this to us a little more?

Actually, Palermo reminded me a lot of the Barcelona of my childhood, because of the very Mediterranean cities, ports, luminous with a point of decadence, but very much alive. In today’s Barcelona, much of that has been lost to tourism, which is good, but not at the cost of losing its character.

And finally, could you quickly advise us on a route for a weekend and one for a week?

I would advise you to visit a city for a weekend, for example Naples with an excursion to Procida, and to walk around the island as if time had stopped. For a week I would recommend Sicily and touring from north to south and, apart from the beautiful Taormina, visiting other places which I also have yet to visit.

If you also want to travel around Italy like Ana, Claudins has a tailor-made course for you as the traveler.