Dear american, english, japanese, brasilian, deutsch, spanish, moroccan, french, israeli and all international friends,
I write to you to say I am sorry and ashamed for the new logo (if you dare call it so..) that represents (if you dare say so…) our capital city, Rome as announced yesterday by city Mayor Alemanno.
The New Rome logo announced yesterday by City Mayor Alemanno.
It comes as one of a long series of friendly fire attacks to the image and reputation of our country as cradle of arts, beauty and design. Remember (we all probably voluntarily forgot…) the other logo that should have represented Italy?
replaced after only two years by:
and the unbelievable claim: Magic Italy with the PM Berlusconi voiceover in an horrible 80′s style commercial?
You probably and hopefully forgot about all this, my dear international friends, as we try to do every day and focus on the many, real beauties we have here in Italy.
As a citizen and as a communication professional I want to reassure you that we are indeed the country of beauty: only we have a ugly, ugly politicians…
Please come visit. I’ll be glad to show you around: we can sit in a beautiful Piazza, admire the real beauty of our country and make fun together (with a nice glass of wine) of the ignorance and superficiality of a political class who governed us in the past decades. These ugly people, I personally reassure you once again, are soon about to disappear by natural extinction (if not sooner by imminent elections), while Italy’s beauty is luckily eternal.
Thanks to my new Coolpix 7100 I easily shot some videos while I were in Shanghai last november. One is the chronicle of my ride with the Maglev train, from Pudong Airport to Shanghai centre. The second is a video shot form an office at the 41st building (audio is in Italian describing Shanghai’s unstoppable traffic). The last one has been shot in Wulumuqi Road, a popular street food destination. Enjoy.
Israel is a country incredibly rich in nature, art, history, religion, food and populated with very welcoming people. I spent almost three weeks during summer 2011 with some friends, I will share some highlights, tips and experiences we had that might be useful to future travelers in the “Land Flowing with Milk and Honey“.
Traveling to/from Israel
We flew both Alitalia (no controls in Italy, all very quick as if you were traveling to any European destination) and El Al (20 minutes rough “interrogatory” at Malpensa Airport). The flight from Italy has an average duration of 3,5 hours and you can see the best of the mediterranean sea (Turkey, Greece, Cyprus…). Leaving Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport is a little bit more time consuming. Security procedures are very meticulous and, therefore, very long. Without a particular crowd it took me 1,5 hours to go through luggage and cabin luggage inspection. Expect lots of questions too, be at Tel Aviv airport at least 3 hours before your flight. Should you have extra time (you won’t ) the airport’s Duty Free is packed with goods and the DAN Lounge easily accessible at Terminal 3.
Accomodation
We rented thorugh AirBnb a marvellous house in Jaffa (Tel Aviv). Having “a base” is a good way to explore a country where the longest distance is 2/3 hours drive, except for Eilat. International hotels are easy to find and reasonably pricey. Looking carefully you can get some good deals on 4 star hotels or sublet apartments. We stayed 2 night in Jerusalem at the Leonardo Plaza for 100 USD a night: definitely worth the price and some comfort/the pool in the hot israeli summer have been a relief! In Jerusalem you can find interesting places to stay in convents: Ecce Homo, Austrian Hospice and many others. It’s not only a way to have a cheaper accomodation, but to fully live Jerusalem’s old city and its unique atmosphere. The rest of the country and Palestinian Territories have regular hotel any travel guide can help you with. Living in a rented house has also the advantage to explore local markets, get to know the neighbors, relax and “feel at home” and spend less if you are a group.
Food
Israeli food is a fantastic mix of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern flavors. Falafel, Hummus and ShakShuka (although the latter is a tunisian dish) are the national dishes, but the variety of cuisines, ingredients and dishes is amazing. In Tel Aviv you can taste any kind of middle eastern and Maghreb cuisine. Israeli love to have a large breakfast (you’ll find it large even if you are american… ) and the creative cuisine scene is getting interesting in Tel Aviv. We had the chance to try many street food stalls and some restaurant I’ll write in the following lines. A dinner at Suzana is a very good idea both for the food (try the Iraqi Kubeh) and the Neve Tsedek Atmosphere. Another “must eat there” for foodies is Abraxas, from Israeli Top Chef Eyal Shani (we actually ate at the second shop, just next door: North Abraxas and had a charming trip through the flavors of this land in a Hip, village-like atmosphere). Puah (despite the name) is a good stop in the Jaffa flea market area where you should also try a delicious pastry shop who bakes almond and chocolate giant cones in Rabbi Nahman. The best Hummus in town, no doubt, you can have at Abu Hasan although it’s often served as a breakfast. Fruit juices (try pomegranate juice and the lemon mint! Not together ) are delicious all over the country and so easy to find, the best I had inside the HaKarmel market in the yemenite neighborhood. Hot tea with mint (Nana tea) is also a recommended drink, even in summer.
In Jerusalem the restaurant scene is definitely less charming, you should go for an aperitif in one of the two top notch hotels there, both for food and atmosphere: the King David and the American Colony. We had a dinner by the grill in the garden of the American Colony Hoptel and the atmosphere and the food were unique (a delicious lamb kebab). We spent around 30USD per person, including wine, so it was also a deal. Don’t miss the arab Mas’Udiyya market north of the old city and it’s street food stalls: tryeverything, it’s the best menu !
Tel Aviv (actual name is Tel Aviv – Yafo)
Tel Aviv is a vibrant city with a beautiful beach and a lot going on. The Tel Aviv Tayelet, the beach promenade, is a 7 km long pedestrian and bicycle path going from the Tel Aviv Marina to Jaffa and soon to be extended until Ajami (stop by if you can before they gentrify it all) and Bat Yam. The “TA” beach is always attended by someone: at 6:00 am you will find surfers mixing with partygoers exiting some clubs (the clubbing is wild down there and for every taste). You will find your Tel Aviv pretty soon: be it a Parisian like shopping carousel, a Museum tour, a Manhattanite resto-scene or a mediterranean exotic nightlife. An interesting tour is the White City walk tour, exploring the Bauhaus area around Rotschild Boulervard, it’s a free tour (do leave a tip at the end) leaving every saturday morning at 1:00 Am from Rotschild 46. A thing apart is Jaffa, the historical Jerusalem port and now arab south end of the city. Do read the amazing Jaffa history and dedicate a day to explore the flea market, the restaurants and the food stores along Sderot Yerushalaim. The best way to go around TA is by bicycle, you can easily rent one, if you stay many days it’s worth buying one and reselling it.
Jerusalem
Jerusalem is a unique place on earth. The place where Judaism, Islam and Christianism were born, the holiest place for these three religions. It’s a destination of great interest for the mankind. The most relevant holy sites are all in a very small area (less than 1 square kilometer) called The Old City. Nonetheless visiting all these places takes several days (plan atleast 3 full days for Jerusalem). You will find plenty of information on sites, hotels, tours, places to visit and the incredible history of this city. I’m not the person and this is not the place to recall it, I will just share here a great song I (re)discovered during this trip:
The Dead Sea is the lowest place on earth (411 meters below the sea level). The climate is hostile (be prepared with water, sunscreen and all needed). The place is a natural wonder, but don’t expect too much wonder. It’s a desertic area, with 45° in august. It’s worth a ride (1,5 hours from jerusalem by car) because of its uniqueness and because it’s worth trying the sensation of floating with an unbelievable amount of push from… the sea. We stopped 2 hours at Mineral beach, a cheap resort (no “free beaches” there). The locals told us that down south places are better (and the Masada fortress, we couldn’t make it, is supposed to be unmissable). At Mineral beach you can visit the AHAVA outlet, good prices for the world famous dead sea cosmetics. (curiosity: Ahava in Hebrew means Love).
Palestinian territories
The Palestinian Territories are a complex topic I won’t discuss here. We visited Jericho, on which I’ll share a few notes, we couldn’t make it to Ramallah and Betlehem, as planned, because the AVIS Car Rental (and ll others) won’t let you drive the car there and because of the outbreak of attacks in the Negev Area which created a tense situation in borders and checkpoints. Hebron, a very interesting historical and religious site, is considered to be very dangerous by everyone we talked to. Our afternoon in Jericho has been incredibly pleasant and inspiring. We crossed a Palestinian Checkpoint and after a 2 miles ride we arrived at the central square of Jericho on a calm ramadan thursday. Almost everyone was in the Mosque and in the main square we met only taxi drivers, policemen and fruit mongers. The fruit guy gave us lots of fresh, delicious dates, inviting us to eat them inside his store (it’s Ramadan). The people there gave us the warmest welcome I ever received. They were coming to introduce themselves to us, telling us: “You are welcome. We are happy you are here. This is your city.” and offering any kind of help, for the sake of hospitality. We ended having lunch with the taxi driver and recovering from the sun drinking fruit juices and exchanging thoughts on the different life they do in the territories. Although short and limited, a first hand experience useful to understand a bit better such a complex and tragic situation. Another peculiar moment has been the night IDF bombed Gaza, being in Tel Aviv, on the beach for drinks, we spent the whole night in the burst of TA nightlife with airplanes 2oo meters over our heads (they were taking off and coming back to TA Military airport) returning after bombing Gaza (56 kilometers south) in response to the terrorist attacks of August 19th. So distant yet so close and so difficult to understand.
The Kibbutz (Bar’Am)
Thanks to a friend we had the incredible opportunity to visit a Kibbutz and to live there for a couple of days. Try to visit a Kibbutz if you can. We ate and slept there, being lucky since Bar’Am is one of the oldest and largest kibbutz in Israel and we had a pioneer woman as our guest. There are many definition of a Kibbutz, Wikipedia defines the “[...] a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture“, Ariela at first told us a Kibbutz is “a collective life project” I have been constantly hit by a Kibbutz as “a military installation where many things take place”. A Kibbutz ia a socialist dream come true, a collective life project, an agricultural center and also a start-up incubator, IMHO, in Bar’Am many entrepreneurial projects have taken off, first of all ELCAM. So expect something truly unique, if you have the chance to visit one.
Safety
Israel is way too often in the news for terrorist attacks and warfare actions. This leads to a high level of anxiety for those who are at home, I must say I felt comfortable and safe for all our staying, included the time after the Aug 19th attacks. The entire territory is patrolled by IDF in a way that avoiding territory control is almost impossible. Main civilian and military sites (airports etc) are controlled with (very) intensive security measures. In absence of extraordinary conditions a trip to Israel is very safe and never akward, from this point of view.
Collaboration
If you found this post useful, please say so with a comment, it would be greatly appreciated. If you have any update or integration on what written here, post a comment and I’ll be glad to edit the post. Todà. Enjoy Eretz Israel.
Una volta gioiellerie e ristoranti raffinati avevano una sede in tutte le metropoli europee e tenevano Tokyo o una città asiatica sconosciuta in lista perché “faceva esotico”. Oggi a “fare esotico” è rimasta solo Los Angeles, l’Europa, signori, è fuori lista…
Trovo che questa immagina sintetizzi abbastanza bene la capacità di assorbimento culturale e commerciale dei cinesi e la capacità di fare una nuova sintesi, chiamiamola “la sintesi cinese”, con cui si appropriano di qualcosa con disinvoltura e efficacia uniche, strizzando l’occhio a chi la riceve e “convincendolo” che le cose sono sempre state in quel modo. In effetti a guardare questa foto viene da credere all’assunto che sta dietro: “Voi americani non avete inventato niente con Obama, avete copiato Mao“. Grandissimi giratori di frittata. Altri esempi che vi vengano in mente di “Sintesi Cinese” con cui si sono appropriati di qualcosa?
Qualcuno mi sa fare il nome di un brand cinese? Questo secondo me è un problema, una situazione che deve cambiare. Il commercio estero della Cina deve rapidamente qualificarsi con prodotti di qualità e aree di specializzazione, altrimenti ci ritroviamo con una superpotenza che esporta pompe idrauliche falsificate e chincaglierie. Ma perché questo possa cambiare occorre che non cambi solo la Cina, ma anche chi ci viene e ci fa affari. Probabilmente dobbiamo cambiare anche noi e “pretendere” dalla Cina più qualità.
La marca “China”.
La percezione della Cina è molto peggiore di quello che è il paese reale. Insomma non solo la Cina è un paese senza brand nel senso che non conosciamo marche cinesi nel mondo occidentale, ma anche la “marca” Cina non ha una grande reputazione dalle nostre parti. Nel sentire comune Cina è sinonimo di molte cose, tutte poco positive. Una cinesata è una cosa un po’ losca, le cineserie non sono cose per cui siamo disposti a pagare molto, il cinese non è di sicuro il personaggio che brilla di più per immagine, si manda qualcuno in Cina non certo per fargli un favore. La lista potrebbe essere lunga, ma i valori associati alla Cina nella cultura occidentale sono di basso livello (almeno in quella italiana, sarebbe interessante sapere come è vista negli altri paesi europei).
Shanghai vive dentro una nuvola di vapore acqueo capace di contenere 17 milioni di anime (più, pare, altre 5 milioni di anime clandestine). L’aver consultato vari servizi meteo prima della partenza e l’aver confrontato il 54% di tasso di umidità di Milano ai primi di luglio con il 79% di Shanghai negli stessi giorni, non mi aveva trasferito il concetto con altrettanta oppressione polmonare di quando sono sceso dal volo Air China a Pudong (PVG). Shanghai è stata definita in vari modi: “Parigi dell’Est”, “New York dell’Ovest”, “Puttana d’oriente”. Quel che è certo è che è una città umida, florida, in calore quasi. Avida di gru e escavatori che creano 5 linee di metropolitana in due anni. Qualunque guida comperiate per Shanghai è superata: durante i tempi di stampa come minimo han tirato su una torre di 500 metri o fatto due nuove strade e aperto almeno una dozzina di ristoranti alla moda.
In the next couple of weeks I will be on a very particular business trip to Tokyo, Japan. I’ll be embedded in the world champion MotoGP Fiat Yamaha Team, a once in a lifetime opportunity made possible by the intelligent and strong marketing effort done by our client FIAT Automobiles, which is Title Sponsor of the Fiat Yamaha Team and is developing the digital marketing plans on Social Media. Our role as an agency is to coordinate guest bloggers and Online PR and work together with Fiat and Yamaha on the Social Media strategy.
I’ll be travelling in Tokyo and in the surrounding area and we’ll be staying for the whole week-end at Motegi for the MotoGP. The road trip with the Fiat 500 during the week before the MotoGP will be amazing, we’ll meet Japanese Bloggers, visit Yamaha’s HQ and many interesting places related to riding and go to an amazing party on the 20th at the Fiat Cafè in Tokyo.
Find (and make findable) the content with the tag: #fiatayamahateam
I’ll be posting here on my blog and I’ll be sharing on my facebook and my twitter lots of pics and content. I’ll be doing it in english, since the MotoGP is an international event and many people and motor bloggers will be following our updates in the next days. I hope this content from Japan will be interesting for the people following me, if otherwise I apologize in advance.
If you have suggestions regarding Tokyo or Japan, this is the place to leave them: right here in the comments. Sayonara.
Venerdì l’Italia era un po’ più corta, più vicina. La foto qui sopra secondo me simboleggia benissimo una giornata in cui siamo scesi a Catania a dare una mano alla città a ripartire, un piccolo aiuto il nostro, forse solo simbolico, a una grande città con una storia travagliata. Dare una mano e darsi una mano, fare networking con un sacco di persone interessanti con cui i contatti attraverso la Rete stanno moltiplicandosi in quese ore dopo le giornate catanesi. Devo ringraziare gli organizzatori del Barcamp tenutosi venerdì scorso a Catania e il Comune di Catania e il gentilissimo e cordiale Sindaco Stancanelli per avermi invitato (assiemeatantialtribloggereamoltiamici) agli Stati Generali dell’Innovazione, [UPDATE: su organizzazione e sponsor è uscito un post che mette in luce aspetti poco chiari, sui quali non saprei dire, ma per dovere di cronaca qui c'è il link: http://antoniotombolini.simplicissimus.it/2010/03/stati-generali-a-catania-telecom-o-non-telecom-innovazione-one-group-srl-e-una-piccola-scoperta-pompa.html] [UPDATE 2 La pseudo indagine si sta rivelando una vera e propri cantonata.]. È un’opportunità di incontro tra istituzioni e tra cittadini e per dare un segnale di rottura e innovazione ad una città molto creativa, per tracciare un percorso, aprire una rete. Devo ringraziare, dicevo, i miei ospiti non per formalità, ma perché senza il loro invito probabilmente non sarei venuto e non avrei conosciuto (a parte le meraviglie e l’ospitalità catanese) un sacco di persone e progetti che vado a raccontarvi in una giornata di fermento creativo e imprenditoriale che sembrava quasi di stare a Milano
Jesse Marsh di Inoll una rete aperta che raggruppa sia i “laboratori vivi” che formalmente fanno parte della rete europea ENoLL (European Network of Living Labs), sia tutte le iniziative nel territorio italiano che credono nell’innovazione basata su un processo di co-progettazione.
Salvo Mica di e-ludo che organizza il Global Game Jam e sta creando un MMOG, un gioco multipalyer online sulla Mafia in modo da “esporne” le dinamiche e quindi diventare educativo.
Il Freaknet Medialab dalle BBS e i centri sociali alla redazione de “I SICILIANI di Fava alle radio online e alla sua culla cultural-digitale DYNE.
Roberto Chibbaro che propone di portare a Catania l’interessantissimo modello del distretto dell’innovazione di Barcelona “22 @ Barcelona“
SeeMS gli SMS in trasparenza per scriverli mentre cammini, ma anche per commentare la TV con gli amici mentre la guardi (e qui secondo me c’è un grande potenziale).
TeleStrada, la WebTV della Caritas premiata come miglior webTV di denuncia italiana.
Sicuramente ne ho dimenticati molti, la giornata si è svolta su due piani ed è stata molto intensa, mi scuso quindi in anticipo. Siccome nei barcamp e quando si è ospiti secondo me bisogna portare sempre qualcosa, ho pensato di condividere con uno speech la storia degli ultimi tre anni di hagakure e le difficoltà fiscali che una giovane start-up deve affrontare. Si parlava di Venture Capital e mi sono chiesto se con politiche fiscali più agevolanti il nostro fisco non potrebbe essere il miglior Venture Capitalist per l’innovazione in Italia. Domani posto video e slide dell’intervento. Per oggi godetevi le foto meravigliose di Catania e dei Catanesi.
Moving south from Djema el Fna square, the Royal part of Marrakesh begins…
Medersa Ben Youssef - Student's residence. Photo by Marco Massarotto, click for full credits.
…the area surrounding “la grand place” and the southern part of the Medina are a small portion of Marrakesh full with historical monuments. The first is the Medersa Ben Youssef, the Islamic College of Marrakesh. It’s a magnificent palace that enlightens the visitors about the religious practice in Muslim countries. Imagine a cloister, a convent, a monastery. Narrow corridors, small patios and microscopic cells. Getting close to god or allah appears to be a matter of social isolation through all religions.
Medersa Ben Youssef - Two cells - Photo by Marco Massarotto, click for full credits.
Definitely a wider space is Palace El Badi, south of Djema el Fna. The magnificent 360 rooms palace is now a bunch of ruins, nonetheless its grandiosity appears still intact although instead of princes it’s now inhabited by storks. In the surrounding areas it’s worth spending some time visiting the Saadian Tombs and the more recent (19th century) Bahia Palace. The Royal Palace is not accessible, but behind the huge walls a little eden must be there for those who can enter. Around the Bahia Palace and the Royal palace (Kasbah) local markets are worth a visit.
Palazzo El Badi - Grandangolo Photo by Marco Massarotto, click for full credits
Just by the side of the Saadian tombs is La Sultana Hotel & Spa: a high end resort with a magnificent modern hammam and spa. For luxury travellers I think La Sultana is a worthy alternative to La Mamounia and its Spa is definitely worth a Hammam with Gommage (scrub) and a four hands massage. You will feel a Sultan. Let’s head back to Djema el Fna and the adjacent Koutoubia Mosque: it’s time to leave the Medina’s dust and get to know the 21st century face of Marrakesh…
Mosque Koutubia - View - Photo by Marco Massarotto, click for full credits
Leaving the Medina for Gueliz, in the Nouvelle Ville (the new city) a much less official, but definitely more fashionable “temple” is Jardin Majorelle. The villa and Jardin were the retreat and now is the mausoleum of the Franco-Algerian fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent, where he lived with his gay lover Pierre Bergé and where YSL now rests in peace, his ashes scattered in the romantically beautiful garden.
Jardin Majorelle - The Villa - Photo by Marco Massarotto click for full credits
After a refreshing stay in the shadows of Majorelle gardens you can have some refreshments in Guelìz. I had the best fried fish ever at Samak Al Bahriya (Map), a place just for locals where with 3 €/USD you can have a large portion of super fresh fried fish. They dont even bring you the fork because everybody eats with his hands here, so: dig in! A more sweet and refined spot is 2 streets north in Rue Libertè, 11: Al Jawda Pastry Shop. Here you can find all the traditional Moroccan sweets at their best, Al Jawda is an excellent place also for a present, as most shops in the street. Just a few steps away one of the world’s most charming Hotels awaits us…
) the airport’s Duty Free is packed with goods and the DAN Lounge easily accessible at Terminal 3.
